Never Gone Away
by Ali213
Summary: Completed! Summary: Brooke and Lucas and all that good stuff. Chapter 22 now up! The end is nigh...(till the sequel)
1. Chapter 1

_So this is my first One tree hill fic (if you're an OC and seth/summer fan, check out my other stories), it's sort of based a couple of months in the future of series 2 (which I haven't seen, because I'm in England, I just know a bit of stuff about the new characters). This means that it's kind of in between Canon and AU, so just call it whichever you like. It will become a Brucas..._

Brooke sat down at the picnic table where Haley was eating her lunch.

"Hey Tigger," Haley said, without looking up from the book she was reading.

"What're you reading?" Brooke was bored, and hated it when Haley was engrossed in a book.

"The Da Vinci Code."

"Oh my god! I've read that! Wow, shouldn't you be reading, like, Prust or something?"

Haley laughed, "No, this is a perfectly good book. Just because you've read it doesn't make it trash." She smiled at Brooke's mock-hurt expression. "Anyway, it's just getting really exciting so you have to shut up and let me read."

Brooke groaned, and continued to pick at her salad.

"Hey guys," Peyton and Jake had come over, and sat down at their table. Brooke eyed the chips on Jake's plate, but he caught her looking and moved the plate over to the opposite side of his tray, grinning.

"No way Brooke, I've got basketball practice later and I didn't have any breakfast, I need my food."

"Well I've got cheerleading, are you saying that's not as important? Hmmm? And it's your own fault if you didn't eat breakfast." Jake laughed, "Of course I'm not, cheerleading is...far more important, and it is critical that you guys eat a good lunch so you can do those...twirly things we all love," he grinned at Peyton, "but if you wanted chips you should've got your own." Brooke glowered at him, and he just smirked and took a bite of one of his coveted fries, looking very pleased with himself. Peyton just laughed and shook her head, Jake and Brooke argued all the time, although of course only in a friendly way. She was going to have to watch that actually, she thought, Brooke was very good at the fiery banter. She smiled at her paranoid thoughts.

"So where's Lucas?" Haley asked.

"Umm, crying over Anna somewhere?" Peyton suggested, to knowing smiles from them all.

"I think he was in the library," Jake said.

"That guy needs a new girlfriend, badly." Haley said. "Oh my god I so agree! That girl is seriously not worth it. She broke up with him what, a week ago? And they never even did it, get over it already."

Peyton almost laughed out loud at this, as it had taken Brooke weeks to get over Lucas, but she figured no one needed a reminder of that particular episode. She still hadn't forgiven herself for what she'd done. It was far easier to get over her feelings for Lucas than her feelings of betrayal over Brooke.

"Well I'm going to find him one," Haley said, "he's been moping long enough. Anyone want to help me?"

"I would love to," Jake said standing up, "but I've gotta go."

"Yeah me too," Peyton followed him, "but Good luck!"

"So how about it Tigger? You're going to help me? Or would that be too weird?" Haley knew too how torn up Brooke had been over Lucas.

"Yeah I'm gonna help! And it's fine, because I'm over him, we could never work again. I just want to see him with someone good. I kind of wish he and Peyton had worked out, I mean, Jake's great, but then at least they wouldn't have screwed me over for nothing!" She laughed, and Haley tried to decide whether she was telling the truth, or whether she was just a really good actress.

"Okay, great, maybe we can find you someone at the same time." Brooke's fling with Felix had no better results than Lucas's with Anna, although it had been Brooke who had dumped Felix.

"Ooh, yeah! I think we should take him out, to a party."

"We can do it tonight, we can go to club. I'll talk to Nathan, and I'm sure Peyton and Jake will come along."

"Cool, now we just need to find Lucas!"

They did, ten minutes later, at his locker, where he was getting his books out for fifth period.

"Hey loser, where've you been?" Haley greeted him.

Lucas turned around and was surprised to find Haley and Brooke facing him.

"I was in the library, what's up," Brooke laughed at his face, he looked very worried. Clearly he had guessed they were about to rope him into something.

"We've decided you need a girlfriend," said Haley, "and to get laid," added Brooke, "because by my calculations, you've got to be getting pretty frustrated."

Lucas looked very taken aback, and Brooke fought to keep a straight face.

"So we're taking you out tonight," said Haley.

"Both of you?"

"Yeah, in case you hadn't noticed Broody, we're actually friends now." They'd actually been friends for a while, Haley had been really nice to Brooke after the whole Peyton-Lucas fiasco, but they never had much time to hang out at school together.

"Okay..." Lucas was a little lost for words.

"And Nathan, Jake and Peyton will be coming by the way. And speaking of Nathan," Haley added, "I promised I'd meet him before Biology, so I will see you tonight. We'll meet you at mine at 8.00." She waved, and walked of down the hall.

Lucas turned to Brooke, "so who came up with this plan?"

"I know what you're thinking and it was **Haley**,so you can't pin anything on me," Brooke smiled, "See you later Luke," she headed of to her class, with Lucas smiling after her.

Lucas arrived at Haley's on time, wearing a dark blue shirt and jeans, and feeling slightly apprehensive. After his initial scepticism at the idea, he had decided that Brooke and Haley were right, he did need a girlfriend, he just wasn't so sure that partying at a club was the way to find him a successful relationship. But then again, he could just take Brooke's advice, and just get laid, although for some reason he didn't feel too great about that either. But whatever happened, it would be a fun night, and he definitely needed one of those. Haley opened the door when he knocked, dressed in jeans and a blue halter-neck.

"Finally, okay come on, we're leaving, you're driving." She brushed past him on her way to his car followed by Brooke, who grabbed his hand, dragging him after her. Yes, it was definitely going to be a fun night...

_The FanFiction equation: Reviews Updates_


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for all the reviews! Please continue to review because I've almost got the next chapter written and reviews are great for that last little bit of inspiration..._

"Come on Broody, it's going to take us forever at this speed." Brooke moaned, from her place in the passenger seat.

"These are small town roads Brooke, I can't bomb down them at 60, I don't want to get us all killed." Lucas said.

"60 is 'bombing'? God, no wonder we're going so slow, I guess 10 is nice and easy then."

Haley stuck her head between the front seats, watching Brooke and Lucas.

"I am not driving at 10 miles per hour, I'm doing at least...20."

"Wow, really walking on the wild side there," Brooke smirked at his indignant expression, then smiled as she felt the car speed up slightly. "See, I was right, we could go faster."

"Me speeding up has nothing to do with what you said...the road cleared." Lucas gestured to the empty street ahead of him, and grinned at Brooke.

"How convenient."

Haley sat back, a bemused expression on her face, Brooke caught sight of it in the overhead mirror, where she was applying lip gloss. "What's up Hales?"

"Nothing," she wiped the expression of her face, and Brooke shrugged, then smacked her lips together, putting the lid back on her lip gloss. Lucas looked over at her, and she pouted at him and giggled. He smiled back, and Haley eyed the two off them, shaking her head, a knowing smile forming on her own features.

When they arrived at the club, Haley went off to find Nathan, and Brooke and Lucas moved over to the bar to get drinks.

"So, stage one, scan the room, and find your target," Brooke said, handing Lucas his drink.

"Brooke, would you stop making this sound like an SAS espionage mission," he said, laughing.

"No. If we're going to find you a girlfriend, then you have to pick a girl."

"But this is so stupid, I can't just pick a girl out of the crowd to be my girlfriend!"

"Luke, come on, it's fun, just find someone to hook up with and you'll feel so much better. I know this is what you did to get over Peyton, we came to the bar remember!" Brooke was still smiling, but Lucas felt his stomach drop to hear her talk about that, "Hey, that was to get over you," he corrected her, before he could stop himself. He saw her head jerk, looking up and him, 'might as well finish,' he thought, "and it didn't work too well." Brooke opened her mouth but couldn't think what to say, she was about to ask him what he meant when Peyton and Jake came up, Jake clapped Lucas on the back and started talking to him, but he caught Brooke's eye over Jake's shoulder before she was drawn into a hug by Peyton.

Jake, Lucas, Brooke and Peyton made their way over to where Haley and Nathan were standing, and Nathan greeted them all. Jake went off to get more drinks, and Peyton started enquiring Lucas about how Haley's plan was going. Brooke was still trying to catch Lucas' eye, trying to think what he had meant before. He didn't seem to have meant anything though, because he was now talking perfectly normally to Peyton. 'Just forget about it,' Brooke thought, 'you obviously misunderstood something.' She started talking to Haley, trying to persuade her to come and dance.

Lucas talked to Peyton, glancing at Brooke every now and again. Her hair was loose over her bare shoulders, and she was wearing a red top with thin straps, that was just low-cut enough to make a guy look twice without being too slutty. There was about an inch of toned skin between the bottom of her top and the top of her black skirt that was slung low on her hips. He could see a couple of guys standing a little way away from them, checking her out, and felt the familiar feelings of protectiveness he used to get whenever they went to a bar or party when they were dating. Except now he couldn't put his arm round her waist, and have her settle her head against his shoulder, and see the disappointed looks on the guys faces as they saw she was taken.

Peyton noticed that Lucas' eyes were wondering, and tried to see what he was looking at, "have you found a girl you like?" she asked.

"Um, yeah," he answered, his eyes still on Brooke.

"Where, show me," she looked up at him, waiting for him to point someone out. He broke out of his thoughts, and swallowed, quickly pointing out a tall brunette who had just been approached by a guy, "oh never mind, looks like she's taken."

"Oh, well better luck next time." She looked at him for another second, he seemed to be acting a little weirdly, but it was probably nothing, she thought, and went to find Jake.

Lucas let his eyes drift back to Brooke, she seemed to have managed to persuade Haley to dance, and she, Haley and Nathan were now making their way over to a space on the club floor. He watched as her hips instantly started moving in time, and her dark red nails ran through he hair. As Nathan moved closer to Haley, a tall blonde guy moved up to Brooke and a short exchange of words occurred and then his hands were on her hips and Lucas sighed and turned away.

From where he was standing by the bar, talking to Peyton, and trying to avoid being dragged to dance, Jake saw Lucas watching the dance floor, and then turn away. He looked to what he'd been watching, and saw that Brooke was now dancing with some blonde guy. His eyebrows furrowed slightly; something was going on.

Half an hour later Lucas was having more fun. Haley (helped by Nathan) had forcefully pulled him onto the dance floor. He had danced with a couple of girls and had a little more to drink. Jake came up to him and clapped him on the shoulder, "Having fun man?"

"Yeah." He smiled at him and Jake smiled back.

"Peyton sent me to get another round, wanna come?"

"Sure," he followed Jake over to the bar and they stood in the throng of people trying to get the barman's attention.

"Hey broody," Brooke had come up, and leant against the bar next to him.

"Hey cheery, "he replied, nudging her shoulder with his own. She grinned back at him, and then the barman came over and asked her what she'd like. She ordered and he winked at her, "coming right up," she giggled and Lucas shook his head at her ability to instantly get any barman's attention when he and Jake had been standing there for ages. She caught his look and laughed, "hey, if it was a girl, you guys would be first on the list," she shrugged, "bad luck for you that it's barMAN." She received her drink and turned to go, "good luck!" she winked and disappeared into the dancing bodies. Lucas watched her go and Jake noticed, deciding he had to ask.

"So man, what's going on with you and Brooke?"

Lucas looked surprised, and shrugged, "nothing. Why?"

"Because every time I see you you're looking at her." Jake grinned at Lucas' guilty expression. "Do you still like her?"

Lucas sighed, "I don't know. I mean, yeah, I do, I just don't know if I should. Sometimes I feel like she's forgiven me, and she seems like maybe she still feels things too. But then sometimes it's like we're just friends, and she'll never ever let us be anything more."

Jake looked at his friend; man was he in a mess. "Well, do you think maybe..." he paused, unsure whether to go on, "do you maybe it's because Peyton isn't really available anymore?" he felt very uncomfortable talking about his girlfriend like this, he'd talked to Lucas about her before, before he and Peyton got together: he'd wanted to make sure that it was ok with him, but it was always a little weird.

"No." Lucas dismissed it immediately. "I thought about that, whether I was settling for my second choice, but it's definitely not that. I was over Peyton before you got together with her, and seeing you two together is fine. Seeing Brooke and Felix was horrible. And now, watching her with guys here, it hurts way more than I thought it would."

Someone had finally come to take their order, and Jake ordered, leaving Lucas in thought. Jake turned back to him when he was done, and sighed. "Well, it looks like you're a little screwed man."

"I know, and I deserve it right."

Jake shrugged, "I don't know, but, I do know Brooke, and I know you, and you guys aren't over. Just give her time." He gave him a pointed look, and took his drinks, leaving Lucas staring after him.

Lucas was about to leave the bar too when a girl stopped him.

"Hi, um, you've been standing by the bar for like fifteen minutes, and I didn't want to let you go without getting your name." She smiled shyly and Lucas turned back. He caught a glimpse of Brooke on the dance floor, her arms wrapped around some guys neck. 'Just give her time... ok,' he thought.

"I'm Lucas."

"Katie."

Brooke was having fun. Blake (or was it Drake?) was a good dancer, and the she could still taste the cranberry and vodka she'd just had in her mouth. Something was stopping her from being totally happy though. Lucas' words earlier were still in her head: 'that was to get over you, and it didn't work too well.' It had probably just been an idle comment, a joke even. But something about the way he'd said it, and how, when she'd looked up at him, surprised, he been looking straight at her, like he was trying to confirm her thoughts. But so what, right? If Lucas wasn't over her then that was his problem, he was the one who had cheated on her. It wasn't so much Lucas' heart that was bothering her however, as her own. The leap of joy she'd felt inside her when he'd said those words, the warm feeling she felt whenever he looked at her, told he that whether he was over her or not, she definitely wasn't over him. But she had decided months ago, that she would never follow these trains of thought. That she and Lucas were over, she could never trust him again, and they could never go back to how they were. She would just ignore her feelings, after all, wasn't that what Felix had been about? Getting Lucas out of her system, remembering how to feel for other guys, or teaching herself again how to be with a guy when the feelings weren't there. And she had broken up with Felix because she didn't need him anymore. 'That was what you told yourself,' she thought, 'but wasn't it really because of that look, his eyes when he saw you, the way it made you feel.'

FLASHBACK

Brooke and Felix had an arrangement. A kind of 'friends with benefits' system. Brooke had refused to be in a relationship, she didn't think she could keep that façade up every day. They'd been enjoying (well, Felix had) a few of the 'benefits' in Felix's room when the door had opened.

"Oh sorry, Anna told me this was the bathroom...Brooke..."

Lucas was standing in the doorway, his hand still on the handle. Felix rolled off her, "Lucas, dude, get out!"

Brooke pulled the sheet around her, her eyes on his. He looked shocked, but there was something else there, it was like he knew. He could see right into her and he knew what she was doing. And he looked so sad, and sorry that he had driven her to this, like he knew that it was his fault that she was here with some guy who she was trying desperately to create some feelings for.

Still looking at her, he said "sorry," and shut the door.

END FLASHBACK

After that Brooke and Felix had tried going out for a while, seeing as people knew now anyway, but as Brooke had thought, she hadn't been able to do it, and she'd broken up with him soon after.

Brooke looked over Blake's shoulder, and saw Lucas standing by the bar talking to a blonde girl who was running her fingers along his arm. He looked up and to her surprise caught her eye. She stopped herself from looking away, embarrassed and gave him a smile and raised her eyebrows, trying to say 'nice catch'. Lucas smiled back, but it was tight and forced, and she knew he had seen the sadness behind her eyes, and that they were both thinking how wrong this was. That they were on opposite sides of a club with strangers who meant nothing to them, and neither of them could see a way to overcome the barriers to be together.

When Peyton's foot started bleeding from the strappy high heels she was wearing, Jake figured it was time they left. He found Haley and Nathan making out in a corner, and located both Brooke and Lucas on the dance floor. He signalled to Lucas that they were leaving, but he could stay, but Lucas said bye to the girl he was dancing with and came with them anyway. Brooke too seemed to have had enough, and so they all left together, and went to find Lucas' car.

"So looks like you found yourself a girl Luke," Brooke said as they walked out.

"Um...maybe."

"You don't really sound besotted," Haley joked.

Brooke looked up at Lucas, "but you had some fun, right?"

"Yeah," he smiled at her, and put an arm around her and Haley, "thanks guys."

"Your welcome," said Haley, "as long as it helped you forget about Anna."

"What? Oh yeah, Anna, right. Yeah it helped, thanks."

Haley gave him a sideways look, noting the fact that he had obviously totally forgotten about Anna. "Good." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and slipped out of his arm, taking Nathan's hand instead.

With Haley's disappearance Lucas noticed he still had an arm around Brooke. She didn't seem to be going anywhere however and slipped her arm around him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so tired."

He laughed, "I'm not surprised, I've never seen somebody dance so much!" She chuckled.

"So who's..." he caught her other hand and read the name on it (which had a number written below it) "...Drake?"

"Oh," she looked at her hand more closely, "I thought it was Blake." Lucas laughed, and Brooke continued, "Drake's a ducks name, I don't want to go out with a duck."

"Oh well," Lucas shook his head, smiling, "he'll just have to go."

"Yup." Brooke took her arm away from around his waist and rubbed of the number, "bad luck Drake."

She smiled up at Lucas, "so I guess the night wasn't anymore productive for me that it was for you."

"Nope." Their smiles faded and they just looked at each other, Brooke broke it first, resting her head on his shoulder again. He squeezed her shoulder and kissed the top of her head, and they walked together to the car.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for the reviews, keem 'em coming! This is my favourite chapter so far, I hope you guys agree..._

_Oh yeah, and I realised I forgot to do this before:_

_Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or any of the characters in it (not even Lucas, it sucks. Oh well, you all share my pain, unless you're a guy, in which case, you don't. Or you do, whatever, either way. ;) )_

Brooke woke up the next morning with a light headache, but with a smile on her face. She'd been having a dream about...She shut her eyes and put her hand over them, trying to stop the memory of it returning. She'd been dreaming about Lucas. She couldn't stop the pictures from forming though. It was one of those dreams which seem so real that you're disappointed when you wake up and find it's not true. She'd been at Karen's Café, and was talking to Haley, when Lucas had walked in and given her a kiss. Haley had smiled at them and gone back to work, and they'd had hot chocolate and talked and laughed together. Then he left her with a goodbye kiss, and a promise to see her that night.

Brooke groaned, it had been so perfect...so _normal_. An now she really, really wanted to see him, except of course they had no plans to meet that night, and she certainly couldn't go to Karen's Café and expect him to be there ready to greet her with a kiss. She buried her head in her pillow. Was she really doing this to herself again? How could she still love him after what he'd done? But like he'd said himself, that was a mistake, one she was almost sure he would never repeat...NO. No, she was not going to set herself up for another heartbreak, he wasn't worth it...

That night Haley had managed to persuade Nathan to have everyone round to his apartment to watch movies. After going out the night before, she had felt like staying in, and had promised to do something with Luke. When Nathan asked what he was supposed to do, she said they could all do something together, but Nathan still found the idea of just him, Lucas and Haley hanging out a little weird, so Haley asked Brooke and Peyton to come along, and Peyton asked if she could bring Jake, so it ended up with all six of them, plus Jenny, squashed into Nate's tiny apartment struggling to find a movie which they all wanted to watch.

"I don't see how anyone can not like 'Bring it on'!" said Brooke, "it's like, the best movie ever."

"It's about cheerleaders!" said Lucas, with a derisive look on his face.

"And what, Mr Scott, is so bad about that?" Brooke raised her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips. Nathan fell silent in the middle of scoffing at Tarantino movies to Peyton, to hear how his brother was going to dig himself out of this one.

Lucas paused, "Absolutely nothing. I'm just not sure they're the best centrepiece for a movie. I did not mean in any way to insult them or the wonderful work they do."

Brooke narrowed her eyes. "You're lucky you're pretty," she said, and Haley laughed.

"Okay guys," said Jake, "if we're not going to have Bring it on, or Pulp Fiction, then how about my personal choice, Tomb Raider..."

"NO!" interrupted Peyton, she did not need Jake fantasising about Angelina Jolie for the next two days.

Jake smirked, and continued, "then what are we going to have?"

"What about Secret Window?" suggested Haley.

"Why would we watch that?" asked Nathan, genuinely confused.

"Um, der!" said Brooke, "Johnny Depp!"

"No!" said Nathan, Jake and Lucas simultaneously. The girls all rolled their eyes, and Haley said to Nathan, "don't worry baby, he's got nothing on you." Nathan smiled and Lucas came up behind Brooke, "I'm better than Johnny Depp, right?" he whispered in her ear. Brooke looked over her shoulder at him, and raised her eyebrows as if to say 'are you kidding me?' Lucas looked mock hurt but then she smiled and said, "definitely," winking at him. When Lucas had turned away, satisfied, Peyton raised her eyebrows at Brooke, who shrugged innocently.

"Okay guys, this is getting stupid, why don't we just have a blast from the past," said Jake, who'd being going through all of Nathan's old videos, and was holding up 'American Pie'.

"If we're going to watch American Pie we might as well watch the second one," said Brooke, "it's way better."

"No way, the first was the original!"

"The second was so much funnier."

"The third one just sucked."

Five voices broke out simultaneously pushing their favourite of the trilogy, and Jake shook his head and sighed, walking over to the TV and putting in the video, "We can watch both of them. Come on, otherwise we'll be arguing all night." He took Peyton's hand and sat down in one of the big armchairs, pulling her down to sit on his lap.

"Fine." Brooke pouted, flopping down into the other armchair. Haley and Nathan sat down on the little sofa, and Nathan put his arm round Haley. Lucas was left with nowhere to sit.

"Dude, you need a bigger couch."

"Oh, sorry, um, the floor's pretty comfortable," Nathan said, offering an apologetic smile.

"C'mere," Brooke sighed and stood up, pushing Lucas onto the chair.

"No, I don't want to take your seat," he started to stand up again but Brooke stopped him, "you're not," she smiled and sat down in his lap, settling herself against him. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, and looked up to find the other four all looking at them with raised eyebrows.

"Are we going to start or what?" said Brooke, ignoring their looks, although she was unable to stop the light red tinge in her cheeks.

"Um, yeah, sure," Jake chuckled to himself and turned back to the TV, pressing play.

They were all enjoying the movie, although Lucas had to admit he wasn't really paying much attention. Being in close proximity to Brooke never really aided his concentration, but at the moment it was taking all his self control not to simply pick her up, carry her to Nate's bedroom and get it on with her right then. He wouldn't of course, because that would mean the end of what they were doing right now, and as much as Lucas missed sex with Brooke (and he really, really missed it) the thing he missed the most was this. Just hanging out with her, sitting with her, holding her. The feeling of her body vibrating against his every time she laughed, the smell of her hair which he couldn't quite pin point because she never stuck to one shampoo, the way their fingers were intertwined and her thumbs were rubbing up and down his. He sighed, and held her a little tighter. She turned her head and looked back at him, wondering if something was wrong, but he smiled at her and so she smiled back, then looked back at the screen. She ran a hand through her hair, sweeping it over one shoulder, and pulled the sleeves of her jumper down over her hands, stretching the V neck and exposing the top of her shoulder. She could feel Lucas' warm breath against it, and leant back against him, wriggling back on his lap to get more comfortable. He froze, her movements sending his body into overdrive. She heard his breath catch, and turned, biting her lip, smiling apologetically. "Sorry," she whispered, and he nodded, looking abashed. She moved back, this time lifting herself off him very slightly as she did so, so as not to cause quite so much...friction.

"Brooke, I don't think that's any good for Lucas' blood pressure," Jake said laughing, as he watched Brooke move around from his position across the room. Brooke glared at him, but stopped, and Lucas mouthed "thanks," to Jake, and wrapped his arms firmly round her, so she would keep still.

Brooke awoke to find the credits of American Pie rolling, and Lucas breathing deeply beneath her. Haley and Nathan were asleep on the couch, looking frigging adorable. She saw a figure get up and turn off the TV, plunging them into almost complete darkness.

"Peyt?"

"Oh, I thought you were asleep, everyone looked so cute I was going to find a camera!" Peyton whispered.

"I just woke up, and I'm starving! Do you think Nathan has any food in his fridge?"

"I doubt it," Peyton giggled, "but you never know, come on." She offered Brooke her hand, and pulled her up. Lucas murmured something and both girls froze, but he simply turned his head and stayed asleep.

"Aww, he looks so innocent!" Peyton said, as she began creeping towards the kitchen.

"Yeah." Brooke breathed, and touched his shoulder before following her best friend.

They found that Nathan Scott was most definitely one changed man.

"I can't believe he has Riveta!" laughed Peyton.

"And carrot sticks! And low fat milk! Oh my god, Haley has him so whipped!"

They managed to find some ice cream in the freezer however and sat down at the little table with two spoons.

"So how are you and Jake going?" asked Brooke.

"Really good," Peyton smiled and Brooke's eyes widened, "Oh my god. Peyton Sawyer, did you just go mushy!? What has happened to my best friend? The moody tortured artist? Is she still in there??"

Peyton laughed, "I don't know," she smiled, "and I don't think I miss her!"

"I'm really happy for you Peyt," said Brooke, genuinely.

"Thanks," said Peyton, "and how about you, I feel like we don't talk enough any more."

"Well that's cause you're always with Jake, lover girl!" Brooke laughed, "I've been hanging out with Haley, she and Nathan are past the whole 'have to spend every second with each other thing' so _she_ has time for me!"

"I'm sorry Brooke, really I am, I just..."

"Stop it, come one I'm kidding," Brooke interrupted, "it's great that you guys are going so well, and you know I'll be right here when you're sick of the sight of him and want a girls night out!"

Peyton laughed, "it's so funny that you and Haley are friends now, it's like the most unlikely combination ever!"

"I know," said Brooke, "if you'd asked be last year she would've been the last person I would've guessed I'd be friends with now, but I guess we've both changed a lot in that year."

"You have," said Peyton, looking proudly at her friend, "not to sound all patronising, but you've really grow up Brooke." Brooke smiled shyly, then smirked, "that was totally patronising Peyt!"

"Ah, I'm sorry, never mind, ignore me."

The two girls smiled at each other. Then Peyton narrowed her eyes, "So are you going to tell me or do I have to drag it out of you?"

"Tell you what?" Brooke asked.

"Tell me what's going on with you and Lucas."

"Me and Lucas," Brooke said, like the idea was preposterous, "nothing!"

"Oh come one Brooke! You cannot be serious, there is some serious flirting going on that is what!"

"No way!" Brooke said, but received nothing but a disbelieving look from Peyton, "okay, maybe a little."

"Better than Johnny Depp? And sitting on his lap, and the whole...lapdance thing? And Jake tells me there was some serious eye contact going on yesterday, I would say a LOT!"

"Lapdance thing?? Okay, whatever, maybe there is a noticeable amount of flirting going on, but so what? We're just messing around."

"With you and Lucas it's never just messing around, come on Brooke, tell me what it is. Do you still like him?"

"I don't know, maybe be a little, I'm not sure if I'd say 'like'..." she trailed off, and sighed, finally cracking, "Okay Peyt, you cannot tell anyone okay? I don't know what has been going on the past couple of days, but suddenly I cannot stop thinking about him, it's like when we just broke up all over again and it's driving me insane!"

Peyton looked at her friend seriously, "Are you still in love with him?"

Brooke stayed silent for a minute, and then slowly nodded, she looked so confused and dejected that Peyton couldn't help but go and hug her.

"Oh Brookie, brookie, brookie," she said, shaking her head, "what are we going to do with you."

"Come one Peyt, it's not funny."

"I wasn't laughing,"

"But you're not taking this seriously, I don't know what to do!"

"Okay, I'm sorry, but I don't see the huge problem, you're still in love with him, but here's the thing, he's still in love with you too!"

Brooke looked at her friend uncertainly, "you think?"

"Yes! Brooke we can all see it! Every time he looks at you he smiles, and he jumps at any opportunity to do stuff with you. Like take last week or whenever, when you had to go and get the new books for English from the store room, he volunteered to go with you."

Brooke looked at her oddly, "I haven't noticed all of this," she said slowly.

Peyton paused, "Okay, well, don't get mad, but a couple of weeks ago I was kind of watching him quite closely...trying to sort of...work out if I might still have feelings for him. Which I totally don't, by the way," she added quickly. "It was just that I wanted to be sure, I didn't want to hurt Jake, and I was going to talk to Luke about it, but then you and he were getting on so well again, I didn't want to bring it all up again. I thought I might be getting jealous of you guys, but I wasn't, I realised I was actually rooting for you, so I knew that I was definitely over him. I'm so sorry, I know I shouldn't have even been thinking about him, but I just had to be sure."

"Peyton, it's okay, you guys obviously had something really special and it's fine if there are still some left over feelings there, I'm sure Luke still thinks about you too," Brooke tried not to sound too dejected.

"No, he doesn't," said Peyton, "Brooke, we were both just under the delusion that we'd found something really special with each other, when in fact it was with other people entirely. Jake talked to Lucas before we got together, and Lucas made it clear that he was more than fine with it. I've seen the way he looks at you Brooke, and it's the way he used to look at me, the way Nate looks at Haley, and Jake looks at me," she blushed slightly, "and he knows that this time he's found something that could really work, because you guys had it before, he just didn't realise it then."

Brooke was silent, she was thinking about everything Peyton had said.

"You just have to trust him Brooke, trust him that he'll never make the same mistake twice."

Brooke looked up into Peyton's eyes, and knew that she was right. "Thanks Peyton," she whispered, without having to say how grateful she really was.

Peyton smiled, "That's okay."

_Review and you will be rewarded...just as soon as I finish the next chapter._


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for all the great reviews, you guys rock! As you requested (and threatened!) I haven't stopped writing and here is the next chapter, Enjoy!_

Brooke decided she needed to talk to Lucas, she wasn't really sure what she was going to say, but she couldn't keep all these feelings bottled up inside her for much longer.

On Monday after school the girls had cheerleading practice and the guys had basketball.

"I don't know if I should talk to him about it," said Brooke to Peyton, as they watched Lucas warm up with the rest of the team.

"You should Brooke, just ask him to meet you later or something, you have to do it sooner or later and sooner is better."

"Why?"

"Because the sooner you do, the sooner you guys can get back together and stop flirting quite so outrageously. It's getting a little nauseating," Peyton joked. "Also he's been single for a little while now and other girls are starting to get interested!"

"They are?" asked Brooke, suddenly worried.

"Katie was asking me earlier today what was going on with you two, because she was thinking of moving in there. Of course, it's hard to flirt with a guy when he's constantly staring at some one else," she looked pointedly at Brooke, "and it just so happened that while we were talking about this you guys were looking pretty cosy over by his locker so I think she's given up for now, but if you don't make a move soon the tree hill vultures are gonna swoop down and snap him up!"

Brooke furrowed her brows, "I guess I'll talk to him then, but just cause I am, it doesn't automatically mean we're getting back together, there's still...issues Pey."

"I know," said Peyton quickly, "but you'll get through it, come on Brooke, don't look so nervous, you're just going to talk to him, something you seem to be very comfortable doing at the moment, and you're Brooke, since when do you get nervous anyway, you're like the most confident person I know!"

"You're right," said Brooke, wiping the uncertain expression from her face and smiling at her friend, "what's the big deal?"

She walked over to Lucas, who was doing some practice with Jake, and had just caught a ball. She bounced it out of his hands, and grinned at his fake pissed off expression.

"Don't go anywhere later, kay? I want to talk to you."

"Okay..." Lucas said slowly, wondering what this was about.

She smiled at him and winked, before throwing the ball back and turning on her heel, back to Peyton.

Peyton was smiling, shaking her head, "can you even be near him without flirting?" she asked.

Brooke just grinned.

'Okay,' thought Lucas, 'Brooke wants to talk to me.' Something was up. She obviously had something pretty important on her mind for her to specifically ask him to wait after practice. They had been talking quite recently, what with the fact that both their best friends were pretty occupied with their significant others, and the fact that when Haley wasn't with Nathan, she was hanging out a lot with Brooke too, they had seen quite a lot of each other. And something about the fact that they'd been in a relationship, and both seen the other at their worst, made it easy to talk. When he and Anna had broken up, Brooke was really sweet, and said she'd be there if he ever wanted to talk. He'd taken her up on her offer, and they'd ended up spending half a night on her couch, talking about everything, both of them completely forgetting about Anna. It had reminded him of the first night when Peyton had been drugged, and he'd seen a whole other side to Brooke. Even then when he had been completely involved in his drama with Peyton he had forgotten about it all in that night, and was drawn in by Brooke showing him a little of what she was like underneath. Now he loved how open she was with him, that little by little he was learning more about Brooke Davis, and who she really was. She knew that if she wanted to talk to him, she could just...talk, anytime. He wondered what was so important that she needed to specifically come and ask him. Of course, he could just be totally overreacting, which he often did with Brooke because he turned stuff over so much in his mind that it became a huge thing...'Okay, I'm just going to concentrate on practice, and stop thinking about her,' he thought. Yea, like that was gonna work...

Practice ended and Lucas went and had a shower, and then met Brooke outside.

"Come on," she said as he approached her car in the car park, "we're going for a drive."

He got in and she drove them to the Rivercourt. He raised his eyebrows at her choice of destination but she just shrugged, and got out, wandering over to a picnic table.

He followed her, now very intrigued, and sat down next to her. "So whatsup?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about you and me," she said slowly, "because we talk all the time about loads of stuff, but we never really talk about...us."

"Is there an us?" he questioned, looking at her closely, his heart beginning to beat a little faster.

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk about," she whispered. She looked up at him, "Lucas, we've been through so much crap, and I always thought that we'd never be more than friends again; even when I'd forgiven you, I never thought I could feel the same way about you. But recently...I have been." Lucas continued to stare into her eyes. She licked her lips, and continued, "I've been so confused about what exactly I've been feeling, but I talked to Peyton the other day, and being with you this weekend, I can't deny it anymore. And I don't know if this means if I want to get back together, but I had to tell you because it's been driving me crazy spending time with you and wondering if maybe...maybe we're both feeling the same way." She waited for his reaction, the air was still around them and all she could was her own shaky breathing as she watched his face. Then, suddenly, he had placed a hand on her cheek and was kissing her. His lips moved softly against hers and his thumb caressed her cheek. She felt her mind go blank as she was drawn into it, savouring the feeling of his lips. His tongue begged entrance and she allowed it, deepening the kiss and moaning slightly into his mouth. She had missed this so much. When they broke apart he kept his hand on her cheek, and she rested her forehead against his, biting her lip slightly and opening her eyes to look straight into his.

"Does that answer your question?" he asked, "I think whatever feeling it is that you were trying to explain so very adorably earlier," he dropped his voice and lifted he chin slightly so he was looking right at her, "I feel it too. And whenever you're ready to do something about it, I'll be right here."

She smiled at him, and kissed him softly on the lips. "I'm ready now," she whispered, "we just have to take it slow, okay?"

"Okay," he said.

"Okay," she smiled.

_Don't worry it's not over, there's still a few bumps in the road to come (and just some good old Brucas fluff). _

_**Please** review! And if you have any ideas about scenarios or whatever you particularly want to see tell me and I might just write them._


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry it's been longer than usual to update, but as you may have noticed FanFiction's been a little funny recently and I haven't been able to log in, also I had GCSE coursework (British people will know what I'm talking about) so I've been kinda busy. Review please (I hardly got any reviews for chapter 4...tut tut tut guys, it wasn't that crap!)_

'Ring' 'Ring'

Brooke rolled over on her bed from where she had been lying on her back, thinking about Lucas, to reach for her phone. She was in a state of total contentment, and had been ever since he had driven her home two hours ago, and kissed her good night. She picked it up, hoping it wasn't going to be anything that would ruin her good mood.

"Hello?"

"Hey Brooke,"

It wasn't, it was Lucas. She grinned and flipped onto her stomach, resting her chin on one hand.

"Hey sexy, whatsup?"

"I was just calling to say good night."

She smiled into the phone, "Lucas, it's like, ten, I'm not going to bed, I haven't even started my homework!"

"Well get going then! Cause you have school tomorrow, and you're going to have to be looking good if I have to admit to everybody that I took you back," he joked.

"Broody there are so many things wrong with what you just said that I cannot even begin to yell at you about them, so I'm just going to assume you're joking, and let it go," she paused, "but I'll be expecting an apology in chocolate or flower form tomorrow." Might as well make the most of it, right?

He laughed, "yeah, we'll see. But seriously, you have to be in on time tomorrow because I want to tell everyone, and I want to do it with you."

She groaned, "Do we have to make like an…announcement? Can't just you tell Hales, she'll tell Nate, I'll tell Peyton, and she'll tell Jake. How about that? Nice and simple."

"But not much fun. Come one Brooke, this might be the last time we do this, don't you want to see the expressions on their faces?"

She felt herself go tingly all over at his comment, and he was right, or she hoped he was. If this worked out she'd never have another boyfriend in high school, and there'd never be that first day again when you were with someone new and all your friends were talking about it.

"Brooke?"

"Um, sorry, I got side-tracked," she blushed even though he couldn't see her, "It's not like there going to be all surprised, Peyton's been going on about it to me all weekend, and I'm pretty sure they all were noticing something."

"Were we really that obvious?"

"No, you were that obvious."

"Hey! You're the one who wore my numbered sweater after cheerleading practice the other day, no wonder people thought something was going on when you're wandering around with my name across you're back! "

"I was cold!"

"Sure you were, couldn't you have worn one of your own?"

"Whatever," Brooke conceded, knowing he was right, "we were both pretty open about having feelings for each other, so they're not exactly going to be gob smacked when they hear."

"Umm…gob smacked? Cheery, what the hell is that?"

"Whatever!" she giggled in spite of herself, "I'll be in early, just, keep it simple, kay?"

"Sure, I'm not gonna embarrass you, which I didn't even think was possible, considering it's you…"

"Luke! What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" he laughed, "I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Yeah, you too, and your crappy sense of humour, oh, wait! Can you help me with my trig?"…

Lucas was very tired when his alarm woke him up the next morning. He had talked to Brooke on the phone for hours, before his mum had come in and made him hang up. They had got a total of three of her math questions done. He pulled himself out of bed, and wandered over to his wardrobe, and looked through his clothes for something Brooke would like. She of course had no need to worry, as she looked gorgeous in anything, at anytime of day or night, and he had been completely joking the night before. He'd still get her some chocolate though; he'd always loved spoiling her. He pulled on a blue T-shirt and his favourite jeans, and grabbed his grey hoody that she liked so much he'd noticed it had been going missing for short periods of time over the past couple of weeks…

Brooke arrived at school only a few minutes late, cut down from her usual twenty, just to please Lucas. She made her way to her locker, looking down the hall to where his was, but he wasn't there. Students were passing her, going to their first class. She opened her locker, and smiled at the large bar of galaxy, and the long stemmed single rose she found inside. There was a note from Lucas, which read 'I couldn't decide, so I got both'. She laughed, and slipped it into her English folder. She was just putting the folder into her bag when two arms wrapped around her from behind.

"Apology accepted?"

She laughed and turned around, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, I think so. Did you tell them?"

"No, I said I was going to wait for you."

She rolled her eyes, "You really could have done it without me!"

"No I couldn't, because I figured I'd tell them like this," he lowered his head, and kissed her, his arms tightening around her waist, one hand moving to finger the ends of her hair.

She smiled as the kiss ended, and looked over his shoulder to see Peyton and Haley standing a few feet behind him, grinning at their friends.

"I guess that takes care of it," she smiled, and they broke apart, Lucas kept one arm round her waist as Peyton and Haley approached them.

"Finally!" said Peyton, and hugged her best friend.

"So when did this happened?" asked Haley.

"Yesterday," answered Brooke, looking very pleased with herself. Haley was just about to say something else when a teacher came down the hallway, "Move along, move along, you're all late for class!"

"Gotta go, we'll talk at lunch," Haley went into her Math class, and Lucas, Brooke and Peyton all headed to English, .

Lunch that day was the most fun Brooke had had in ages. She, Lucas, Nathan, Haley, Peyton and Jake all sat together, along with Tim, Teresa and a number of their other friends. It was rare enough for them all to be free in one lunchtime, so that coupled with the fact that Lucas was sitting next to her, and seemed to have decided he wanted to distract her from her food at all cost, meant she was very sad when the bell rung signalling it was five minutes before the start of fifth period. Lucas stood up, and took Brooke's hand, and they both picked up their trays.

"See you later," Haley said.

"Yeah," said Lucas, "I just cannot _wait_ of hear the end of that koala bear story!"

Haley just giggled at his sarcasm, "I thought it was really funny!"

"Nathan I think you're wife is drunk. Though on _what_ I have no idea…" Brooke said, before she and Lucas left.

"Yeah, I want some!" she heard Teresa cry and the whole group broke out laughing.

Brooke looked over her shoulder at them and shook her head, "Why is it that whenever we're all in a big group everyone gets seriously hyperactive!"

Lucas laughed, "I dunno, mob mentality?" he joked. "Come on, baby, we have Bio."

"Oh joy."

He rolled his eyes at her less than enthusiastic tone, and they made their way to their lockers.

"Lucas I do not understand why anyone needs to know what the insides of a frog look like in day to day life!"

"Come on cheery, it's fun. It's kind of like…cooking, you just have to cut it up."

"Cooking is only fun when the end product is something delicious…and chocolatey."

"Well then think of it like being a doctor, like on ER," he added, knowing it was one of Brooke's favourite shows.

"Nice try Broody, but it's totally different. I don't see George Clooney or Noah Wyle anywhere."

"Fine I give up. I'll do it," he took the scalpel from her.

"Thank you!" she threw an arm around his waist and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom, so you can do all the gross dissecting while I'm gone, and then just tell me what to write."

"And what do I get out of this?" he asked.

She paused, turning back from making her swift exit from the classroom before the carnage began, and leaned against him. She nibbled the edge of his ear and whispered, "I promise I'll make it worth your while," then winked at him, before going to work her magic on their bio teacher to obtain an elusive hall pass.

Lucas looked after her, "I'm not going to argue with that," he muttered to himself, chuckling, and then got down to dissecting that frog…

Brooke entered the bathroom, checked her reflection in the mirror, and went into one of the cubicles. She had just shut the door when she heard a number of girls' voices all enter. They sounded like freshman, and she was reminded of the time when she, Peyton and several of their friends would all get out of class at the same time, and meet in the bathroom to giggle, chat and do other girly things. Actually she and Peyton still did that sometimes, she remembered, when they couldn't face the prospect of a boring double period of Trigonometry or some other such crap. Brooke disliked math, and most sciences, and actually most school stuff in general except perhaps English, and maybe History, or Psychology. She could not understand how Haley would ever want to tutor in Math, Brooke thought they had far too much of it at school anyway.

"Did you hear about Lucas, you know, Lucas Scott?"

Brooke had been just about to leave the cubicle when the sound of Lucas' name stopped her, and she sat down on the closed toilet seat, listening to the freshmen's conversation.

"No, what?" the girl who said it sounded very interested.

"He's back with Brooke Davis."

"Oh my god! Tish, are you serious?"

"Yup, bummer, huh?"

"Like either of you would ever stand a chance anyway!"

"Hey, shut up! Tim Jennings is in his year and I hear he went out with a freshman."

Brooke only just managed to stop herself from bursting out laughing at this. Peyton had started that rumour when Tim told everyone he'd made out with her at a party. Brooke was surprised it had lasted so long. Maybe Tim really had dated a freshman…

"Anyway, that's not the point, Lucas could totally do better than Brooke."

Brooke's thoughts about Tim were brought abruptly to a halt when she heard this comment.

"No way," one of the other girls said, "Brooke's really pretty."

"And she's captain of the cheerleading squad."

"And she's like totally loaded," the first girl added.

'And nice, and sweet and funny…' Brooke thought jokingly to herself. She new what her reputation around school was though, half the younger girls idolised her and the other half thought she was a total slut.

"Yeah, but she cheated on him last time they were together," the one who had started it all, Tish, Brooke thought, said.

"How do you know?"

"Oh come on, Hallie, I heard she's cheated on like every guy she's been with, she's a total slut."

'And there it is,' thought Brooke, the label she'd never be able to get away from.

"There was some huge deal when they broke up last time, she was totally upset, I remember cause my sister went on about how she was being such a bitch in cheerleading practice. I don't think she cheated on him."

"Whatever Rosie, I just thought I'd tell you guys."

"Well I think they're totally cute together, how did you find out about it anyway?" Hallie asked.

"Major PDA in the hallway this morning."

Brooke rolled her eyes; Lucas was going to pay for that one.

"He looks like a really hot kisser," Tish added, and the girls broke into giggles, "Almost as hot as Duncan Smith!" They then started talking animatedly about some random guys in their year whom Brooke had no idea about. She wondered how long she'd be stuck in here. She could of course just swan out, and give them a real shock, but she didn't want them to now she'd been listening. It's wasn't like she really cared what a bunch of 10th graders were saying, but, well, every girl liked to hear people gushing about their boyfriend!

_Please, please, please review! I'll try and have the next chapter up soon..._


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you to everyone who's reviewed! I love reading them, Mrs O-town, yeah coursework does suck, and don't even talk mo about a-levels! I'm so not looking forward to them! __And l-a-c-18, I'm afraid Brooke might have let the girls get to her just a little bit..._

_Here's a new chapter for you guys, it's pretty long so I hope you enjoy it. I realised I never really explained when this story is set. I haven't seen series 2 because I'm in england, but I know most of the stuff that happens, and this is set vaguely a little while after where you guys in America are now. So basically, Jake's back, Anna and Felix have happened, Brooke's gotten poor etc. But if there are any things that really don't work then just assume its AU! _

_Enjoy!_

Lucas walked into the locker room before basketball that day to the sound of his name.

"So I hear Lucas is banging Brooke again," he heard some guy say.

"Dude, that's my brother, and no, they just got back together, it doesn't mean he's 'banging' her,"

Lucas smiled as he heard Nathan's response. They were in the row of lockers behind his, so he heard them continuing their conversation as he got out his kit.

"Whatever man, but if I was him, I'd be screwing her the first chance I got, she is HOT! I heard from Drake that she's an awesome lay."

Lucas clenched his fists. He hated hearing people talk about Brooke like that, but he was almost used to it. When he'd first dated her, he'd been congratulated by guys he barely knew, a week later however, they'd all seem pretty pissed off with him when they realised he wasn't simply going to screw her and then leave herandgiveone of thema chance. Since they'd broken up though, he didn't hear Brooke's name as much in guy's conversations, now she was no longer pulling her 'new week, new guy' routine.

He caught the tail end of a sentence as he came round the corner of the lockers, fully changed.

"I just wish I'd got with her when I had the chance." The guy's grin dropped as he saw Lucas.

"Lucas... hey man. Um, I heard you were back with Brooke, I hope it works out for you guys this time."

'Sure you do,' Lucas thought, but said instead, "Thanks," and laughed at Nathan rolling his eyes behind the guy's head.

Lucas drove over to Brooke's house when practice had finished. The cheerleaders had had practice too, but had finished a little earlier, and Brooke had let them leave. She gone over to Lucas, who was doing push ups with the rest of the team, and had just had time to crouch down and ask him to come over later before Whitey had yelled at her to stop distracting his players.

Lucas got out of the car and knocked on the door, which was answered by Brooke, wearig tracksuit bottoms and a black vest top. She grinned when she saw who it was, and kissed him briefly before pulling him inside.

"So what do you wanna do?" Lucas asked her, as they made they way through her hall into the living room.

"Well, I did come up with one idea," Brooke said suggestively, raising her eyebrows, "but we'll need to talk about that and stuff first, so for now…wanna watch some TV?"

Lucas narrowed his eyes, wondering what she meant by talk about 'that and stuff,' but he agreed to her offer, and they sat down on the couch to watch TRL, but Brooke changed it after five minutes to West Wing, and the changed it again to Dawson's Creek.

"Ah, Dawson's Creek," she said with a contended sigh, "nothing beats it for teen angst and drama!"

"What, you don't have enough of that in your life already?"

"Yeah but this is so much better because it's not happening to me. And if a storyline doesn't work out the way you want I to you can just forget it ever happened! Life isn't quite that easy," she said, her voice dropping so it was almost inaudible at the end.

Lucas heard it however, and stiffened at her reference to her own heartbreak. She felt it and gave him a small smile, "sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so serious."

He rubbed her shoulder with the hand that was wrapped around her, and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair, "for everything that I did to you."

She just nodded slightly, and laid her head against his shoulder.

Later, when Dawson's Creek had ended, some other crappy show had come on and they'd stopped concentrating and started talking. Now they were sitting against opposite ends of the couch, with their feet intertwined in the middle, and Brooke was laughing at Lucas' description of when his mum had taken him and Haley to Disneyland for his seventh birthday.

He finished the story and grinned at her giggles, then picked up one of her feet and began rubbing it gently, giving her a foot massage.

"Oh my god, and I didn't even have to ask! You're the best," Brooke leant her head back in delight.

He laughed, "I know," then began to tickle her foot furiously. She whipped it away from him, shouting, "NO WAY Lucas, tickling in any form is totally against the rules!" Brooke was extremely ticklish, as Lucas had found out a while a go and often used to his advantage.

"What rules?" he laughed.

"The rules you haveto obey if you ever want to touch me!"

He pouted, "Fine," and she glared at him, burying her foot firmly beneath his legs.

There was a moment of contented silence before Brooke asked something she'd been trying not to think about since that afternoon in the bathroom.

"Lucas, do people think you're too good for me?"

"What? What do you mean?" asked Lucas, surprised by her question.

"I mean, with my reputation and everything, do people think you could do better, like, the other guys and stuff?"

"Brooke, where an earth did you get that idea?"

"Just, some people do," Brooke muttered, not wanting to admit she'd let what a load of younger girls thought get to her.

"Of course they don't, Brooke, the other guys all think _you're_ too good for _me_! Hello, you're 'Brooke Davis,'" he said.

"Yeah, 'Brooke Davis' super slut and cheer-bitch," she retorted.

"No! 'Brooke Davis' the really really hot Cheerleading captain. Pretty much every guy in this school wants you."

"Yeah, and, like, half of them have had me!"

Lucas gave her a look, "Come on, when was the last time you actually slept with a random guy from school?"

"I dunno, before we went out before, so like a year ago."

"Exactly, guys don't have as long a memory for all of this stuff as girls, according to them, you're like this untouchable goddess, and I'm the one that got lucky, not you," he gave her a little smile, "and besides, what does it matter? I know that I'm lucky to have you."

She smiled at him, and gave him a kiss.

"So, does that mean Nathan's lost his reputation too?"

"What do you mean?"

"As a player, if your saying guys forget this kind of stuff, then I guess his whole getting married stunt blew that one."

"Yeah that's true actually. He isn't really the locker room king anymore."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Um…guy phrase."

"O…kay."

"Actually people used to think you and Nathan would get together."

"Oh my god we'd make such a good couple! I never really thought of that before…"

"Hey!" Lucas hit her playfully, "What about me?"

"Well you know, like you said, if I'm really way too good for you I should think about upgrading," she joked.

"Ok, I take back what I said…and what? Nathan's better than me?"

She pretended to think it over.

"This is taking you too long to answer," he began to tickle her and she screamed.

"Lucas Scott get off of me NOW! What did I tell you!" she squealed in between laughing.

"Not until you answer…and it had better be the right answer!"

"Ok, ok, I give, you're better than Nathan!"

He grinned and stopped tickling her, "Correct." She was still holding his wrists from when she'd tried to pull him off, and now she pulled them back around her waist, and then placed her own hands around his neck. He smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her. She felt his hand move down to her hips and graze the bare skin under her top. She lay back on the couch, pulling him with her. The kiss became more heated as she pushed her tongue further into his mouth, and his hands moved higher up her body. She slid her own under his T-shirt, finding his skin hot. He was just about to undo the clasp of her bra beneath her when she pulled away from him suddenly, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, sitting up, unsure of what he'd done wrong.

"No, it's not you. I just thought…after what almost happened last time…maybe we shouldn't rush this," Brooke said haltingly, looking nervous about his response.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I hadn't really meant for that to happen," he smiled sheepishly, "I want us to take things slow this time."

She nodded, relieved he agreed.

"But, hey," she sad, shrugging, "it doesn't mean we can't make out!" She leant towards him once more but he laid a finger on her lips, stopping her.

"I think you're underestimating how hot you are," he laughed.

"Oh don't be such a guy," she said, "You can take a cold shower later."She placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him passionately. She felt him laugh against her mouth, falling backwards so he was lying on the couch again, his arms encircling her waist, kissing her back.

The rest of the week passed uneventfully. The gossip about Brooke and Lucas died down, and they spent the days blissfully in each others company…or, as blissfully as their hectic lives allowed.On Friday theywent with their friends to the Rivercourt after school. Felix was having a party at his house, but he'd been less than nice to Brooke since he'd found out about her and Lucas, so they all weren't going to show solidarity for their friend.

Lucas, Jake and Nathan were throwing a ball around, waiting for Skillz and the rest of Lucas' old friends to turn up so they could play a game. Peyton, Haley and Brooke were sitting on the picnic table, discussing Felix.

"I mean, it's not like I expected him to be happy about it, it's not like we were ever really friends…"

"Although you did have the benefits," Haley interrupted.

Brooke justrolled her eyesat her, and continued, "but he could be happy for me, or at the very least not show open hostility to me!"

"He was going on to some guy in my math class about how fucked up you were, apparently you have a load of issues Brooke!" Peyton laughed, "I mean, more than even I thought you did!" she joked, and Brooke hit her playfully.

"Just ignore whatever he says," Haley said, "He's just a jealous prick."

"Wise words tutor-wife," Brooke said.

"Oh my god, please don't say your starting that again!" Haley groaned as she heard her nickname.

"I almost forgot about it," Brooke said, "Did you notice I've even been calling you Hales, must be Lucas' influence," she muttered as an aside.

"Yeah I did notice, and I was very happy about it!"

"Well now I've remembered, and it's back!"

Haley groaned and Peyton laughed.

"You can't laugh, Goldilocks," Haley said, using Brooke's name for Peyton that she knew she hated, "or is it 'fake-blonde' this week?"

Peyton hit her, and Brooke giggled, "I don't see why everyone hates them, it's a great honour to get a nick-name from me!"

"No it's not," Peyton retorted, "you call everyone my a different name!"

"And not everyone hates it either," Haley said, "I swear the first time you called Lucas 'broody' after you guys broke up I thought he'd never stop grinning!"

Peyton laughed, and Brooke smiled to herself.

The guys finally got their game started as the others arrived, and Mouth came and commentated on the bench, looking very happy amidst all the girls. Each girl cheered enthusiastically for her respective boyfriend, until Skillz complained that it wasn't fair, and so then they just cheered enthusiastically for everyone. When Lucas scored the last three-pointer however, Brooke couldn't help but jump up and throw her arms around him (though admittedly she probably would have done that when the game ended anyway: she hadn't touched him in at least half an hour!). He kissed her until Nathan yelled at them to get a room, and they broke apart, smiling. He kept an arm round her as they all said goodbye, everyone drifting off to their cars or starting to walk home together.

"I'm gonna go home and sleep," said Brooke, turning to face Lucas once more, "cause I'm really, really tired, but I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"Definitely," he said, "I'm taking you out."

Brooke raised her eyebrows.

"Except I'm a little broke, so…is a movie good?"

She laughed, "A movie is perfect, anything with you," she said, not quite managing to keep a straight face at her cheesy words.

Lucas laughed, "Okay, but come over in the afternoon and we can hang out."

"Okay, I'll see you then." She kissed him again, and then made her way to her car, glancing over her shoulder at him just once and giving him a flirtatious smile when he caught her looking.

_Next up: a little kissing, a little talking, and a date!_

_**Please** review, they really make it worth it, and motivate me to keep writing!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry it's been ages since I last updated, I've been ill! Here's a nice long chapter to make up for it. As always, thanks for all the reviews, they're really fab. Enjoy the chapter, I'll try to have the next one up sooner, but everything gets a little crazy around Christmas…_

Lucas was sitting at his desk reading when he heard the rat-a-tat-tat of Brooke's signature knock. He got up, smiling, and made his way to the door to let her in.

She greeted him with a kiss, "Hey sexy, what's going on?"

"Um…I'm reading," he said, laughing as she rolled her eyes.

"Shock horror," she muttered, "Well, I hate to sound predictable, but you wanna stop reading and make out instead?"

He grinned and didn't even have to reply before her lips were on his and her arms were wrapped firmly round his neck. She walked towards his bed, forcing him to walk backwards until he hit it and they fell back onto it.

"Ow," something hard was jutting into him, and he pulled it out. "Stupid book," he muttered as he tossed it across the room.

Brooke giggled as he rubbed his back, and pulled him up so he was sitting with her straddling his lap, kneeling on either side of him. She continued to kiss him and pulled out her loose ponytail with one hand, brushing her hair over one shoulder. His palms moved up her thighs and a small moan escaped her mouth into his. He kissed down her neck as her fingers ran through his hair, which she was pleased to see was growing out again. She leant her head back as he reached her collarbone, where he was stopped by the edge of her top, so he moved back up her neck to kiss the tender skin below her ear. He tugged gently on her earlobe with his teeth and then moved his lips to her ear.

"You know when you said about waiting…to…you know…" he whispered.

She placed her hands on his face and pulled it back to look at him. His eyes were bright, "Hold that thought," she whispered, "Tonight."

"Tonight?" he repeated.

She nodded, "We can go back to my house."

"OK," he smiled, and kissed her once more, breaking it off before it could become too deep.

"You can carry on reading then I guess," she said, and she stood up off his lap, and picked up his book from where it had landed on a pile of clothes. "But can I stay? I'm bored."

"Of course, we can go somewhere if you want?"

"Uh uh," she shook her head, "we're going out later, and I'm really tired anyways."

"OK," he took her hand and pulled her back onto the bed, taking the book she offered him, and leaning back against the headboard. She slipped on the jumper of his that she had picked up from the floor, and curled up next to him, resting her head on his stomach. He watched as she closed her eyes, and lightly stroked her hair. He sat for a few minutes, looking at her, a content smile on his face.

"I thought you were going to read," Brooke opened her eyes, to find him looking right at her.

He blinked, surprised that she was awake. "I was, I got…distracted," he smiled at her.

"I didn't realise me sleeping was quite so interesting."

He bit his lip, looking abashed, and she rolled her eyes, smiling, before turning her head so she was no longer facing him, "Go back to reading," she said, "I can't sleep if you're staring at me."

"Brooke, it's like, 4pm, why are you so tired? And you've slept loads of times when I was staring at you."

"I'm tired because weekends make me lazy, and," she turned to face him once more, "and, never when I knew you were, perv."

He hit her shoulder lightly, "it's in the rules that boyfriends are allowed to watch their girlfriends sleep!"

"What rules?? And I don't mind really, it's kinda cute," she shrugged.

"Plus," he struggled to defend himself, "you look really beautiful when you sleep."

She raised herself on one arm and leaned up to kiss him, "You're too sweet," she said, and he smiled. She returned to her earlier position and soon her breathing evened out, and he eventually dragged his eyes away from her, to get back to his book.

* * *

An hour later Brooke had woken up, but was still lying with Lucas on his bed; her with her head resting on his shoulder, half asleep, and he was leaning against the headboard, idly playing with the fingers of her hand which lay on his chest. The pale pink T-shirt she was wearing exposed most of her arm, and his eyes travelled to her wrist, which as well as her usual mix of hair bands and bangles, sported two other bracelets he had noticed her wearing every day recently.

"What are these?" he asked, slipping his fingers under them.

"Hmm, what?" Brooke roused herself, and lifted her head slightly of him.

"These bracelets, you wear them a lot."

"Yeah, every day," she murmured, "They're kind of special."

He waited for her to continue.

"This one," she fingered the friendship band, made from faded red and pink thread, "Peyton made for me, at camp after fourth grade. I made her a purple and blue one. And this one," she indicated the charm bracelet off which hung many silver and brightly coloured charms, "my Grandma got for me, when I was born."

Lucas stayed silent, Brooke hardly ever talked about her family, and he'd never heard her mention a grandmother before.

"She said she'd give me one charm, every year, on my birthday, till I was 18 and all the spaces were filled up," there was silence for a second, and then Brooke continued, quietly, "but she died when I was six. When I was 10 and my parents starting going away more they used to bring me a charm from wherever they went. That way, I didn't mind them not being there so much because I knew when they got back, they'd always bring a present. But then they went away for longer and longer, and were here less and less, and it didn't really make me feel better any more. I stopped wearing it when I was 13, and they stopped bringing me charms," by the time she finished speaking Brooke's voice was almost inaudible, yet Lucas could sense the feelings of abandonment and loneliness emanating from her. She buried her head further into his neck, and didn't speak again.

He stroked her hair softly, "I'm sorry," he whispered,

"It's not your fault," she whispered back, then she looked down at the bracelet again, "the six silver ones are the ones my grandmother gave me," she said, pointing them out, evenly spaced between the wide variety of coloured charms. He pointed to one link that wasn't filled, "There's an empty one."

"Yeah, when I stopped wearing it it wasn't quite full," she explained. "I thought I'd lost it years ago, but I found this and the friendship bracelet when I was sorting through things to sell, and I guess…I just wanted to wear them again. I only stopped because I thought they were babyish, and I don't think anyone would really call me immature," she chuckled, "unless they really knew me."

Lucas pondered this last comment, amazed at the enigma that was Brooke.

"They're beautiful," he said finally, looking down at her once more, "I'm glad you're wearing them again."

She smiled, and reached a hand to his cheek and kissed him gently. "They mean a lot to me," she said, "I never told anyone about the charms before," she added, looking right into his eyes.

He smiled back at her, and wrapped his arm around her a little tighter.

* * *

"What time is it," she murmured, a little later.

"Um…about six," he replied.

"I'd better go get ready," she pushed herself up.

"You can just go like that, we're not going anywhere too fancy," he said, sitting up too.

She gave him a look, "Lucas, this is me we're talking about, I cannot wear one outfit all day."

He laughed, "Alright, actually, if you're gong to change, can you wear that red top, that's kinda cut, down here," he joked, pointing to the middle of her chest.

She hit him playfully on the shoulder, "No! I got a new top the other day anyway, so sorry, no old favourites." She laughed as his look of mock disappointment. "If you're very lucky though," she said, moving her lips to his ear, "I might wear that leopard skin bra you always liked," she raised one eyebrow, and he smiled, remembering the time she'd left it in the back seat of his car. She winked at him, and kissed him briefly, before heading out the door, calling "pick me up at seven," over her shoulder.

* * *

Lucas arrived at Brooke's house at the appointed time, and was greeted by a call of "Just give me a few more minutes" from upstairs. He chuckled to himself as he heard the sounds of Brooke hurrying around in her room, and settled himself on the sofa, picking up her TV guide to keep himself occupied.

Fifteen minutes later Brooke came down the stairs, dressed in a jeans skirt and dark turquoise top. Lucas, who nowknew most of nest week's TVschedule off by heart, stood up, "You ready?"

"Yup," she smiled, and there was a pause as he made his way to the door. She cleared her throat. He smiled to himself, knowing what she was hinting at but teasing her by staying silent. She went for a less subtle approach and hit him on the arm.

"Ow! What was that for!?"

She gave him a withering look.

"Oh!" he said, in mock realisation, then sincerely, "you look gorgeous," she smiled and he kissed her on the forehead.

"Thank you! Now we can go," she skipped out the door pulling him behind her.

They drove to the Tree Hill movie Theatre, where they saw a couple of their friends from school, and said hi briefly, before going inside. A few younger girls saw them, and quietly drooled at Lucas and death-stared Brooke. Brooke saw one of the girls she'd heard talking in the bathroom, and smirked to herself as Lucas slipped his arm around her.

"Do you want to get popcorn?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know, what are we seeing?"

"Well we need to decide that too," Lucas laughed, "how about I'll go get some food and stuff and you go pick a movie."

"Okay, but get…"

"Sweet popcorn, I know," he interrupted, and she smiled.

They saw Ocean's Twelve in the end, although Brooke regretted it when the movie had started because it was really good, and she couldn't decide whether to make out with Lucas, which she could do any time, or watch the movie. Making out with Lucas won in the end, but when she broke a kiss for the third time to see what was happening, and it just happened to be when Brad Pitt was on screen, Lucas said she should just watch the rest, after all, they'd have plenty of time for that later…

* * *

"That was awesome!" Brooke exclaimed as they came out into a cool evening.

"It was pretty good actually, though next time how about a movie with less actors you love in it?!"

"What about Julia Roberts? And Catherine Zeta-Jones?"

"Yeah I guess. You're more beautiful than both of them though."

She smiled at him, "Good answer."

"And…" he nudged her.

"What?"

"I'm hotter than Brad Pitt?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever!" she giggled as he hit her, and then pulled him in for a kiss.

"You wanna skip dinner and head back to mine?£ she whispered,"I think I've got some Ben&Jerry's, and maybe a little whipped cream…" she let her sentence hang and raised one eyebrow suggestively.

"Yeah, I'm really not that hungry, I think we could definitely skip dinner," he said quickly, laughing with her, and took her hand as they made their way to his car.

* * *

Brooke could feel Lucas' lips moving down her neck as she fit the key in the door. She turned it and stepped through, turning around as she did so, and finding his mouth with her own. She reached for the light switch to turn it on, but then stopped. It was already flipped down, and the lights were on. She broke the kiss, and looked around, just as she heard a voice.

"Brooke, darling, we were wondering when you'd be home," her mother came into the hall, wearing a tight smile.

Lucas subtly wiped her lipstick of his mouth, but kept one arm around her. Brooke was stiff, and crossed her arms protectively across her chest.

"I didn't know you'd be home, or even in the country for that matter."

Her mother brushed off her icy tone with a wave mof her hand, "Yes well, we thought it was time to check how everything was. I'll be in the living room,if you and your…friend want to join me."

"This is Lucas," Brooke introduced him and her mother just nodded and left.

Brooke turned to face him, "I'm really sorry, I didn't know they'd be here, um, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Are you sure? I can stay if you want?"

"No it's okay, thank you for tonight," she kissed him, letting it linger for a second before tearing herself away, and then turned to follow her mother.

Lucas stood in the hall for a minute, unsure of what to do. He didn't want to leave Brooke like this, but she didn't seem to want him to stay. Finally he left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

_Keep reviewing **please**!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry it's been a while since I updated this (Happy 2005 btw!), I had a bit of writer's block, but I hope everyone's read the story I've been writing in the mean time 'The Ski Trip'! Here's a new chapter, hope you enjoy it, and the next one should be up pretty soon._

* * *

Lucas didn't sleep very well that night, he wished he had stayed with Brooke, or at least, that he hadn't had to leave so quickly, so he could have made sure she was okay.

The next morning he had gotten up, and taken a shower, and had just finished getting dressed when Brooke came through his door.

"Hey, are you okay? I shouldn't have left, I wanted to stay…" he was interrupted by Brooke kissing him hard. He pulled back slightly in surprise.

"I'm fine," she said, giving him a smile to reassure him, but it seemed tight and forced. She placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him again, pressing herself against him. He pulled away again, "What's going on?" he asked.

She stepped back, "I'm trying to make out with my boyfriend," she said, sounded exasperated, "But apparently he doesn't want to, so I'm just gonna go," she turned to leave but Lucas caught her arm.

"Brooke, stop. What happened with your parents? I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well I'm fine."

"Except you're obviously not."

"Yeah because I'm trying to have a little fun and you're pushing me away!"

Lucas knew her anger wasn't really directed at him, but her cold tone still stung. "Brooke, what happened?"

She didn't answer for a minute, and continued to glare at him, but then her shoulders slumped and she turned away. "Nothing. Nothing happened, I don't know why I expect anything to anymore." She looked utterly defeated, Lucas took a couple of steps towards her, and gathered her in his arms, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm sorry, and I'm sorry I pushed you away."

She brushed off his apology, "It's okay, you were right to," she whispered, then continued, looking up at him, "I just wanted to forget about it, forget they ever came, seeing as they might as well not have," she added bitterly.

He led her to his armchair and sat down, and she curled up in his lap. "There's a part of me that always hopes, whenever they come back, that it'll be for good. That they'll see me and talk to me and want to stay. And my dad will ask me about school, and my mum will ask about cheerleading, and we'll be a family again. But they never do, and I'd pretty much excepted that. But then I was so happy yesterday, and when I saw them, I thought, maybe…maybe everything was finally going right."

A tear slid down her cheek and she hastily wiped it away, Lucas cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"I'll get over it," she forced a smile, "I always do."

He smiled sadly back, "You don't _always_ have to be cheery," he said.

She bit her lip, considering this, "I guess you haven't been brooding much lately, maybe we should swap." He chuckled.

"I'm glad you talked to me," he said, after a short pause.

"Me too," she agreed, smiling up at him. He hugged her tightly, "You'll always have me," he whispered against her hair.

They sat for a little longer, until Lucas could tell by Brooke's deep breathing that she'd fallen asleep. He carried her over to his bed, and laid her under the covers, crouching by the bed for a minute, stroking her hair. He'd always envied other kids, who'd had two parents, but now that he thought about Nathan, and his impossible pressure from Dan, and Peyton, losing her Mum, and Brooke, abandoned by her parents, he realised he was very lucky.

"Hey Mum," Lucas said as he entered the kitchen, and began making himself some breakfast.

"Morning," she looked up briefly from her coffee, and continued reading the newspaper.

"Um…just so you know, Brooke's in my room," he said, cautiously.

"Uh huh…" Karen let her answer hang, waiting for an explanation.

"Her parents came home last night, and she was kind off upset about it. She's just sleeping now, but she didn't stay the night or anything," he added quickly.

"That's okay," Karen smiled, "I think I trust you guys to learn from your mistakes," she said, referring to Brooke's pregnancy scare, "And this sounds like you were just being a supportive boyfriend, so in that case it's absolutely fine."

Lucas smiled, "Thanks ma." He took his bowl of cereal to the table, and began eating. Suddenly the door from his room opened, and Haley came into the kitchen, followed by Nathan.

"Did you know there's a Brooke in your bed?" Haley joked as she came in, then she caught sight of Karen, and suddenly looked worried, mouthing 'sorry' to Lucas.

"It's okay Haley, I've already been informed of that," she said, laughing.

"Oh, right," Haley said, looking confused, seating herself at the table next to Lucas. Nathan seemed slightly less at home but sat down next to her and greeted Karen politely.

"Yeah er, her parents came home yesterday and she came over this morning, she was pretty tired so I'm just letting her sleep," Lucas explained briefly.

Nathan nodded, "Are her parents still here? Because they like, never stick around."

"No, they left again," Lucas didn't feel like going into it all. Haley pulled a sympathetic face, and then turned to Lucas, "So you're probably wondering why we're here…"

"Actually considering it's you Hales I'm pretty used to you dropping in," Lucas laughed.

Haley smiled and continued, "Nathan has to go to the mall to buy a present for his mother, who's birthday it is, and I agreed to come, except, as you know, I'm not really a mall person, so we thought we could make it more fun if we all went, so then it wouldn't be a boring shopping trip, it would be…well, a slightly…larger boring shopping trip…" she scratched her head, trailing off.

"What you mean to say," said Lucas, "Is you're both sick of the sight of each other and could use some company!"

"That's about right, man," Nathan laughed. "No it's not!" Haley said, hitting him, "we just thought you might like to join us."

Lucas laughed, "Sure, why not, when Brooke gets up we can all go. Have you asked Jake and Peyton?"

"Well we went round to Jake's on the way and Peyton's car was there but no one answered when we rang the bell, so we figured they were, um…busy," Haley said, eyeing Karen.

"Or getting busy," Nathan muttered, and Haley kicked him under the table.

"Why don't we go watch some TV till she wakes up," Lucas said, laughing. The others agreed and they left the kitchen, leaving Karen still drinking her coffee, shaking her head.

Around ten minutes later Karen was just finishing the paper when Brooke came in, wearing Lucas' Ravens hoody over her clothes, the sleeves pulled down over her hands.

"Good morning Brooke," she said cheerfully.

"Um, good morning," Brooke said, slightly nervously, she hadn't talked to Karen much since she and Lucas had begun going out again.

"Lucas explained that you were here," Karen smiled warmly, setting the girl at her ease, "Would you like some breakfast?" she asked.

"Thanks, I'll just have some juice, um, I can get it," she said quickly, as Karen began to stand up. Karen watched her get a glass from the right cupboard, and pour herself some orange juice, replacing the carton in the fridge in it's original space. Although she knew Brooke was important to Lucas, she had never quite realised how much time Brooke had spent at their house!

"Is Lucas here?" Brooke asked as she sat down.

"He's watching some TV with Haley and Nathan, they all want to go to the mall later."

Brooke nodded slowly.

"So…how often do your parents come back?" Karen asked tentatively, afraid to bring up a subject Brooke was uncomfortable with.

Brooke was silent for a moment and then said, "It varies, usually every couple of months, sometimes more often."

"Do they ever stay long?"

Brooke looked down at her glass, "No."

Karen reached across the table and took Brooke's hand, "We're always here, Lucas and I, if you ever don't want to be at home," she said.

Brooke smiled a genuine smile, "Thanks," she said.

"You know, I remember your mother from high school," she let go off Brooke's hand and began folding up her newspaper, "I was on her cheerleading squad."

"Really? I didn't know that, but I suppose, she knew Dan, so…" she stopped and looked up at Karen.

Karen nodded. "She looked just like you."

"People always tell me we're alike," Brooke said.

"I wouldn't say you were alike in most ways," Karen said, "Appearances can be deceiving."

Brooke considered this, and then said, "Well I think I probably act pretty like her too, or I used to," she scowled, "I mean, she's only a couple of years older than you, so she was pretty young when she had me, and she…she had an abortion before that."

Karen looked quickly at Brooke, "Lucas said…he said you weren't pregnant."

"I wasn't," Brooke said quickly, realising Karen had read too much into what she'd said, "But I could have been." She looked down, "I would never have done that though," she whispered, "I couldn't have done that to Lucas."

Karen rested a hand on her shoulder, "But she obviously realised her mistake," she said, "Because she kept you."

"And now she regrets it," Brooke said, her voice cracking.

"Brooke don't say that," Karen said sharply, "She does not regret it, your parents just…weren't made to be parents. But they are, and one day they'll realise what an amazing daughter they have."

Brooke smiled weakly. She wiped a tear from her sheek and turned away, "Sorry," she muttered, ashamed off falling apart in front of Karen.

"Don't be," Karen said firmly. Shepulled her intoa hug. "You're not your mum,." she whispered.

Brooke felt very comforted by these words, she felt safe being held by Karen, and remembered when she was little and her parents would hug her like this.

"Thanks Karen," she whispered as they broke apart.

"That's okay," Karen smiled, "Now you should go find the others because they've been waiting for you!"

Brooke smiled at Karen and nodded, and left the kitchen.

* * *

They pulled up at the mall in Brooke's car half an hour later, and all got out. Lucas, who had been driving, locked it and threw Brooke her keys over the hood, before he joined her and slippped an arm around her shoulders as they walked into the large indoor shopping centre. 

They wandered round altogether for a little while, until Brooke spied Victoria's Secret and dragged Haley inside, then firmly told the guys to go somewhere else, winking and hinting that it would be worth their while.

Grinning, Nathan and Lucas headed off to find somewhere they could buy a present for Deb.

* * *

"Brooke I'm not getting any lingerie," Haley said stubbornly, as Brooke began looking through the racks, thrusting things into Haley's hand. 

"Come one Hales, I'll even buy it for you!"

"I thought you were poor?"

"I'm sure Nathan would pay me back," Brooke said, raising one eyebrow at Hales, "Once he saw you in it!"

"In case you hadn't noticed Brooke, he's poor now too!"

"Whatever! You still have to get something."

Haley looked down at the blue lacy bra Brooke had just given her, it was kind of cute… "Well maybe just one thing," she caved, and headed for the changing rooms.

"That's my girl!" Brooke followed, carrying half the store.

* * *

Nathan and Lucas had trailed through half the mall, and had looked in countless stores that left them smelling strongly of soap and perfume, but Nathan had still not found anything for his mum. 

"What do you think Haley and Brooke are trying on right now?" Nathan asked, as they ate the hotdogs they'd stopped for.

Lucas paused, thinking happily of Brooke in various different minimalist outfits. "Underwear," he stated, assuredly.

Nathan rolled his eyes, "They went into Victoria's Secret, what else would it be, I meant what kind."

"Actually they sell some other stuff in there too," Lucas said.

Nathan raised his eyebrows, "And how would you know?"

"Oh come one man, like you've never been in there," said Lucas, looking sceptical, "Brooke used to drag me in all the time."

Nathan laughed. "How's it going for you guys," he asked, "second time around?"

"Really good," said Lucas happily.

"And she's…over everything…that happened before?"

Lucas was silent for a minute, "Yeah," he said, slightly hesitantly, "Yeah I think so."

Nathan eyed him, "Just be careful man, okay? Brooke's been messed around with a lot."

"She can trust me," Lucas said defiantly, "I'd never hurt her again."

"I know," said Nathan quickly, "I just hope she knows that."

* * *

"Do you think Nathan would like this?" Haley asked, entering Brooke's changing room wearing a dark red bra. 

"Now you're talking," Brooke said, "This is much better than the last one, and yes I think he would love it! Here try this one," she handed her another pale pink one, which Haley took and turned to exit the changing room. "Where are you going?" Brooke asked, "You can try it on here."

"Yeah…I'm not big on the whole, bearing my boobs thing." Haley said.

"Oh come on, we're practically sisters!"

"Walk me through how that one works?" said Haley, laughing.

Brooke sighed, "You're married to Nathan, Nathan is Lucas' brother, and I'm dating Lucas," she explained, as if ot were obvious.

"And that means I should be able to change in front of you?"

"Well duh!"

Haley just laughed, and exited the room, ignoring Brooke's call of "Prude!"

* * *

They guys had almost given up when Nathan spotted an antiques shop which had some beautiful candlesticks in the window. He and Lucas went inside to ask about the price, and found to their relief that it was just inside his budget. While Nathan was paying for them Lucas wandered round the shop, looking at all the old bits of furniture and jewellery. 

"Hey man, are you coming?" Nathan asked, standing by the door with his bag.

"Yeah, just give me a second," Lucas had just spied something…

* * *

"Okay, I'm gonna get the dark red one and the blue one," Haley said, having finally made a decision. 

"Cool, and I'm gonna get these," Brooke held a stunning dark magenta set of underwear, "Which I think Lucas will really like, if I ever get a chance to wear them," she added.

"You guys still haven't done it again?" Haley asked, as they approached the till.

Brooke gave her a sideways look, "No, we were thwarted yesterday by my parents coming back." Haley looked sympathetic, "That sucks."

"Oh well," said Brooke, "It kind of builds up the anticipation."

"Which also means it gotta be really, really good otherwise your both just going to be disappointed."

Brooke laughed, "I don't think we need to worry about that!"

"Okay, too much information!"

They left the store laughing, their bags swinging by their sides.

* * *

The guys and girls met up again, and walked back through the mall, talking and joking, before they all went back to the car. Lucas dropped of Nathan and Haley at their apartment, before he and Brooke went back to her house. 

She opened the door and he followed her into the kitchen, where she began making a drink for herself.

"Hey, I got something for you," he said.

"Really?" her face lit up.

"Yup," he took a small package out of his pocket, and approached Brooke, who set her drink behind her and took it.

"What is it?" she asked.

He rolled his eyes, "It's a surprise."

She smiled and carefully unwrapped it, revealing a small silver heart charm, engraved with a 'B'.

"Oh my god Lucas, it's beautiful," she breathed.

"I thought you should fill up your bracelet," he said, "I saw it in this little antique store and had it engraved."

She looked up at him, overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness. "You're so sweet," she said, and placed one hand on his cheek, kissing him softly on the lips. He smiled as he watched her attach it to the bracelet, then turn her wrist around, admiring all the complete links.

"I love it," she said.

He kissed her, more passionately, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and got lost in his mouth. When they broke apart he looked into her eyes."I love you," he whispered.

A smile spread across her face, "I love you too," she said back, and then kissed him again.

_**Please** review!_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Thank you so much **for all the great reviews! Here's the new chapter, enjoy!

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_

Brooke was getting her books out for school on Monday morning when she saw Felix approaching her. She groaned inwardly, she hadn't talked to him for ages and she didn't really want to start now.

"Morning," he said.

"What do you want Felix?" she asked.

"What? I'm not allowed to talk to you? You were pretty pally with your other ex-boyfriend when we were going out, why shouldn't it be the same with me?"

Brooke rolled her eyes, "That's because when we were going out Lucas and I were friends. _We're_ not friends."

"I don't see why we shouldn't be. And I hear he's a little more than a friend now."

"I've got enough friends thanks, and yes, he's my boyfriend," her tone was cold, but it didn't seem to deter Felix from continuing.

"Well I wish you all the best. But be careful Brooke, you know what they say, 'once a cheater…'" he smirked as he nodded his head towards Lucas' locker, and Brooke looked over to see he was standing there laughing at something with Peyton. Brooke slammed her locker shut, and glared at Felix.

"See you Brooke," he smiled, and walked away, pleased with himself.

"What was that about?" Lucas asked, as he came up to Brooke.

"Nothing," she muttered, swinging her bag onto her shoulder, "He was just being a jackass."

Lucas looked concerned, but didn't push it. "I've gotta go to History, but I'll see you in English."

She nodded and he smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead before heading off down the hall. She watched him go, cursing Felix for putting her in a bad mood.

Brooke arrived in English feeling slightly better, after Nathan had amused her throughout the first period by doodling cartoons of various people. She particularly liked the one of Felix being hit on the head by a basketball.

Lucas greeted her with a kiss before they sat down. She smiled as she always did when she caught sight of his English folder, which had an 'L' and 'B' in a heart on it, which he had drawn when they'd dated the first time, and which, she had been happy to notice, had stayed there ever since.

Their teacher was just getting into a speech about 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' when a note was slipped onto her desk, and she looked up to see Lucas' hand move away, his eyes still facing forward.

She opened it.

_Hey cheery, are you okay? You looked kind of pissed off earlier. What did Felix say? Do you want me to beat him up for you? Lucas x_

She smiled and scribbled back:

_I'm fine, Broody, thanks for asking. No it's okay, I wouldn't want him to hurt that pretty face of yours. x_

She passed it to Lucas and he took it and read it, smiling slightly. He looked up when he'd finished and caught her eye, 'You don't think I could take him?' he mouthed, and she giggled.

Their teacher looked up at them and she met his eye with an innocent stare. He narrowed his eyes, he had taught Brooke Davis two years in a row and was well used to her antics. He gave her the benefit of the doubt though and let it go.

Brooke and Lucas sat with the others at lunch. Brooke, as usual, was stealing fries of Lucas' plate as they all talked. Finally Lucas stood up and moved round to the opposite side of the table, straddling the bench so he was sitting behind Brooke and grabbed both her hands.

"Ow! What!?" she asked.

"Stop stealing my fries!" he held her wrists in one hand and tickled her lightly with the other. She squealed and yelled, "Cut it out!"

He stopped and she turned to face him seriously, "Are you saying I'm fat?"

He groaned and rolled his eyes, "No. I'm saying I want to eat my fries."

"I can't believe you think I'm fat!" Brooke wailed.

"Brooke, you're gorgeous, and you know it, so stop the drama.," Lucas laughed.

"I mean of all the people," Brooke continued, as if she hadn't heard what he'd said, "My own _boyfriend_!"

"Brooke," he whispered in her ear, and she turned to him, her eyes shining with fake tears, "You're a great actress, but you're not that great. I'm not falling for this, and I'm not letting you eat my fries."

"Ugh, Fine!" Brooke turned away from, her look of anguish immediately disappearing, and the others laughed. Lucas chuckled as he ate on of his precious chips.

"Here, have mine," Jake put his plate in front of her, as he stood up, "I've got some Spanish to do."

"Thank you," Brooke gave him a dazzling smile, "See," she turned to Lucas, "Some people are nice. He doesn't think I'm fat."

Lucas just rolled his eyes, knowing she was just baiting him.

"Oh my god," Haley groaned, "I'm really not looking forward to this Spanish test!"

"Who ever looks forward to a test?" Peyton said.

"Um…Haley!" Nathan joked.

"Shut up, I do not, I just really really don't want this one!"

Lucas wrapped his arms round Brooke as Haley moaned about her awful teacher, and she brought her feet up onto the bench and leaned back against him, forgetting she was meant to be pretending to be mad at him. He fed her a chip and she smiled, "Thank you gorgeous," she whispered to him as she turned to give him a kiss.

They sat and listened to the others talking as their fingers slowly intertwined, and Lucas caressed Brooke's thumbs with his own. It was something he always did when they sat like this, and she found it very soothing.

Lucas looked down at Brooke's bracelets and suddenly noticed the charm he had given her was missing. Brooke saw him looking and realised he had noticed, she quickly looked up at him with a slightly guilty expression.

"It's okay," Lucas said, trying to hide his feeling of hurt, "I understand if you don't want to keep it on, the bracelet's really special to you…"

"Don't be stupid," Brooke said quickly, "Of course I want it on, you gave it to me, I just…I'll show you after school okay? Just…trust me."

"Okay…" Lucas was very confused.

"Good," Brooke was relieved, "Walk me to French?"

"Sure," he smiled at her and they stood up, she took his hand and gave it a little squeeze as they walked out of the cafeteria.

Basketball practice that afternoon was a little crazy. For some reason everyone was not in a mood to buckle down and start practice and when Whitey came in his players were not shooting hoops as usual but messing around with the cheerleaders.

Brooke was completely distracted by Lucas and so wasn't controlling her squad much. Whitey was getting more and more annoyed and finally shouted at her, "Miss Davis, if you cannot control your cheerleaders I will have to remove them!"

Brooke quickly looked up from where she had been flirting with Lucas and looked guilty, "Sorry, coach Durham," she said, turning on the charm. She grabbed Peyton and Theresa and dragged them away from the boys, and the other girls sighed and followed.

Whitey turned to his team, who all looked very disappointed at having the hot cheerleaders taken away from them, and looked even more depressed when they saw the look on Whitey's face.

"Alright boys, suicides!" he said, with a nasty smile. There was a chorus of groans. Brooke flashed Lucas an apologetic smile as they jogged past to start. He smiled back half heartedly, not looking forwars to what they now had to do.

"Scott! Eyes of your girlfriend! That goes for all of you!" Whitey commanded. He folded his arms and watched his team work. He was very fond of Brooke, it was true, she was always very enthusiastic. But definitely had their arguments, as he was not always sympathetic to her plights for more uniforms or practice space for the cheerleaders. Not to mention the distraction her little squad was for the team, and she was the worst one. She only had to walk onto the court and half his players stopped concentrating. It didn't help that she now seemed to be dating one of his star players. At least Haley James wasn't a cheerleader, so one of the Scotts was always paying attention!

At the end of practice, Lucas was getting a book from his locker when Brooke bounded up.

"Hey baby, come on."

"Where are we going?" he asked, slamming his locker and slipping an arm around her waist.

"You have to wait and see!"

* * *

Brooke stopped the car in the parking lot of the mall, and switched off the engine. 

"Why are we at the mall?" Lucas asked.

"Because I have to pick something up," Brooke smiled widely at Lucas, who frowned slightly in confusion, but followed her as she grabbed his hand and led him through the doors.

They walked through the mall until Brooke turned right and pushed the door open of a small shop with a sign reading 'Morris and Sons silver smiths and engravers.' Ignoring Lucas' questioning look she went up to the counter where an old man was standing.

"Hi, I'm picking up something I dropped of yesterday, my name's Brooke Davis."

The man peered at her over the top of his glasses and then nodded, turning to a small stack of drawers and pulling various ones open until he found what he was looking for.

"Here you go dear," he said, handing her a something very small wrapped in white tissue, "You paid yesterday?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Alright then, goodbye."

"Bye," she smiled and then took Lucas' hand again, pulling him out of the shop.

"This is why I wasn't wearing it today," she explained cryptically, as she unfolded the package, "Look," she handed Lucas the charm he had given her, which was what Lucas now saw had been inside, and he looked at it. It looked exactly the same, the large 'B' was still there but nothing else was.

"Turn it over," she said impatiently.

He did, and then saw that on the other side, in the same style as the 'B' was an 'L'.

He looked up at Brooke, lost for words. She smiled shyly back at him, "You're engraved on my heart, Luke, you'll always be there," she touched a finger to the centre of her chest.

He smiled broadly, and as he was still unable to find adequate words to thank her, he kissed her, cupping her cheek in his hand.

"This is amazing," he said, when they broke apart.

She beamed, and fixed the charm back on its link. "I wouldn't ever want you to think I didn't want to put it on my bracelet," she whispered, "It's the most important thing on it."

They drove back to Brooke's house, and Lucas followed her up the steps, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind as she unlocked the door.

She turned around in his arms to face him, "I take it you want to come in?" she giggled.

He shrugged, pretending to be nonchalant, "I guess I could…" She raised her eyebrows, "Well if you don't want to you can go," she pushed him lightly on the chest but he grabbed her hand, "Okay, okay, I want to," he laughed, and placed a kiss on her lips. She smirked and opened the door, and they went into the den.

Brooke turned on the TV and sat on the sofa, pulling Lucas down with her.

"Do you have any homework?" she asked, as she curled up in his arms.

"Yeah, but I can do it later," he said, running a hand down her arm and enveloping her hand in his.

"Good," she said, "then you can stay here with me for a bit."

About half an hour later they got hungry and went into the kitchen to get some food. Lucas opened the fridge and began searching through it's contents. Brooke just watched him, eyebrows slightly raised. Finally he straightened up.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to realise that's empty," she laughed.

He smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, I kinda zoned out for a minute. Why haven't you got any food?"

Brooke shrugged, "I forgot to get some this weekend, I'm still getting used to the whole not have a housekeeper thing," she admitted.

"You should have told me you needed to go, we could have gone together."

"Well we can go another time," she smiled, "But for now I have ice cream!" she opened the freezer and brought out a tub of Ben & Jerry's, and got two spoons out of a draw.

Lucas grinned, and they both leaned against the counter, digging in.

They ate silently, occasionally stealing a glance at the other and smiling when they got caught staring. Suddenly Lucas chuckled.

"What?" Brooke asked.

"You've got some chocolate, right there," he touched her lip gently, "Here let me get it for you," he murmured, before capturing her lips in a slow, searing kiss. His tongue ran along her bottom lip and she smiled against his mouth. He pulled back slightly to look into her eyes.

"All gone?" she asked, grinning. He nodded, and then he kissed him again, more forcefully this time. The ice-cream lay forgotten on the counter as her arms wrapped round his neck and she felt his mouth open to allow her tongue access. His hands moved to her hips and his thumb grazed her bare midriff.

"Do you want to…I mean, are you ready to?…"

She did not need to hear the end of his question before she nodded quickly, recapturing his lips again, her fingers tracing his jaw and coming to rest at the side of his neck.

His hands slid under her shirt, and they broke the kiss so her could pull it over her head. He kissed her neck and collarbone, and she began to move backwards, still kissing him feverishly as they made their way upstairs. His T-shirt was gone by the time they reached her bedroom, and she ran her hands over his chest, relishing the feel of his skin.

He undid the button of her jeans and she slid them of, his soon joining them in a pile on the floor. His lips moved upon her neck until they were on her lips once more. She wrapped her legs around him as he lifted her up and carried her to the bed, where he laid her down, kissing her slowly.

Their breathing became ragged as he familiarised himself again with her body, running his hands up her sides and kissing her soft stomach. Her fingers grazed his back and as he moved his head to kiss her neck again she caught his earlobe lightly in her teeth. "I missed you so much," she whispered hoarsely. He broke the kiss and looked into her eyes, "I missed you too," he smiled.

* * *

Brooke woke up later slightly disorientated , but she smiled as she felt an arm thrown over her waist. Lucas was sleeping beside her, lying on his front with his head turned towards her, his chin resting against her shoulder. She turned slightly onto her side, careful not to dislodge the arm and wake him, and peered over him at the clock on her bedside table. It was early in the evening; no wonder she felt a little weird waking up at that time. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'I guess that's what we get for having sex after school.' She didn't usually fall asleep afterwards, but Lucas seemed to have such a calming affect on her that all she wanted to do when she was around him, apart from kiss him senseless of course, was fall asleep in his arms. 

She looked at the object of her thoughts, and smiled as he stirred slightly in his sleep and nestled closer to her. She reached out a hand and stroked the hair at the back of his neck, before sighing contentedly, and turning back onto her back, letting her hand rest on top of his arm that was lying across her middle.

She drifted off into a reverie about Lucas, but was startled out of it by his voice in her ear, "Hey beautiful," he whispered.

She looked at him and smiled, "How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"Not long," he said, "but you were thinking; I didn't want to disturb you, cos that doesn't happen very often!" He laughed as she hit him lightly. "What was occupying you're thoughts?" he asked, shifting slightly, and wrapping his arm further around her.

"You," she answered simply.

"Me?! Now what on earth would you be thinking about me?"

She rolled her eyes, "How gorgeous you are, how hot you look topless, how you're still pretty good at the whole sex thing…how much you look like a baby when you sleep!"

"Hey!" he objected, "Pretty good?"

She laughed, she thought he would've been objecting to her likening him to a small child, "Okay, okay, very good," she conceded.

"Hmm…better," he seemed satisfied, "I think I rocked your world though."

"Don't get cocky," Brooke laughed, "We've still got some work to do."

He raised an eyebrow, "You wanna work on it now?" he suggested.

She narrowed her eyes, "What about you're homework?"

"I think I can get away with not it doing, just for today."

She smiled as he reached a hand up to her cheek, and moved closer, "Yeah, I think you can get away with it," she murmured, just before his lips covered hers.

* * *

_I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but I need to decide on some stuff. I want to bring in a little more drama because I've got a bit carried away with the fluff and the stories kind of meandering, let me know if you like this stuff or want something a bit different. There may be some problems ahead for Brooke and Lucas though…_

_**Please** keep reviewing!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Sorry I haven't updated this in a while, I hadn't forgotten it! I was working on 'The Ski Trip' (If you haven't read it, do it now…well, right after you've read and reviewed this chapter of course!)_

_As always thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I hope you enjoy the update, also, celebrate for my first story into double figures of chapters!

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_

"Morning gorgeous," Lucas was greeted at his locker by a grinning Brooke.

He smiled back, it had been under twelve hours since he'd last seen her but it felt like way longer. "Morning," he replied, kissing her softly, and wrapping an arm round her waist. Brooke broke it off, giggling, "Maybe we could go back to my house and have a little repeat of yesterday?" she suggested, raising one eyebrow very slightly.

Lucas chuckled, and kissed her again, deepening it and feeling her hands run up his arms.

"Miss Davis, Mr Scott, get to class," their Biology teacher shot them a disapproving look as he passed them. They stopped kissing, and Brooke rolled her eyes, "Okay, so maybe we can't skip school, but can you come over later?"

"Definitely," Lucas said, giving her one last kiss before they head of to their first class.

Haley, Peyton and Brooke sat eating their lunch together. The guys were at an extra basketball practice so their group was rather depleted. Haley was eyeing Brooke, a slightly amused expression on her face.

"That's it," she said finally, "That's the fourth time you've smiled for no reason in ten minutes. What's going on?"

Brooke just grinned, "I'm happy that's all."

Peyton raised her eyebrows, "So I guess that means you and Lucas are doing it again," she said.

Brooke looked a little taken aback, "How do you know?"

"Oh please, you've been acting goofy all morning. So I'm right? You are?"

Brooke nodded, still smiling.

"And?" Haley asked.

"And what?"

"Was it… you know, okay?"

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Do you really want to here about the details of your childhood friend's sex life?"

"Good point," Haley gave a short nod, "But, I mean, you hadn't made too big of a deal of it, you weren't…disappointed or anything, right?" Haley knew how important it had been to Brooke.

Brooke shook her head, "Nope, it was perfect. It was really amaz…"

"Okay, that's all we need to know," Peyton interrupted quickly, and Brooke laughed.

Lucas was sitting working in the library when Brooke approached him. She stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands sliding down his chest.

"Hey baby," she whispered in his ear, "What're you doing?"

"Trig homework," he laughed, "Wanna do it with me?"

"Sure," she shrugged and sat down next to him.

"Are you sure? I was kidding!"

"Yeah, I'm totally bored and I'd rather be with you than anyone else!"

He grinned.

"But I suck at any kind of math so actually I'm just gonna sleep here while you do it," she laid her head in her arms on the desk, and he smiled at her and shook his head, before returning to his homework.

The week passed pretty quickly, Brooke became more and more exasperated by all the basketball and cheerleading practices they had to have. She never had enough time to spend with Lucas. But then she remembered how much fun it was seeing how much she could distract him before Whitey got seriously pissed off and threatened to chuck her out. She was getting pretty good at communicating across the gym with Lucas, and then looking clueless and innocent when Whitey turned around to see what everyone was staring at!

* * *

That Friday there was to be the usual party after the game. Theresa's parents were away and so of course as soon as they walked out the door she had rang up Brooke to say she had the perfect venue. 

The game itself was pretty boring, the team they were playing were rubbish, and the Ravens won 72-4. Even Brooke started to feel a little sorry for the opposition, and toned down the cheers so it wouldn't seem like they were gloating _too_ much.

Afterwards the guys went into the locker room and the girls waited outside till they finally came out, and then they split up into their different cars, to go and get changed before the party.

"Well done gorgeous," Brooke said, giving Lucas a quick kiss on the lips when he came out.

Lucas rolled his eyes, "It wasn't exactly a fight to the death," he laughed.

"Well you still played well," Brooke said.

"Thank you baby."

Peyton mimed sticking her finger down her throat, "If you guys get any sickeningly sweeter, you're gonna turn into Nathan and Hales!"

"Hey!" Haley said, "I resent that."

Peyton gave her a derisive look, "Oh come on, you're like the Waltons or whatever."

"Well maybe Jake would like a few compliments, did you ever think of that Pey?" Brooke said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Jake said, "I'm going to start getting jealous if those guys are always being told how great they played!" Peyton rolled her eyes at him and he laughed and pulled her into a kiss.

"You gotta learn how to please your man P. Sawyer," Brooke joked, as she and Lucas headed off to his car.

They arrived at the party when it was already in full swing, Brooke always being one to make an entrance. Haley rushed up to her immediately, "Jesus Brooke, you took your time! If your bringing clothes for someone, don't leave them hanging!" Brooke had agreed to lend Haley a top of hers that Haley had tried on once and totally loved.

"Chill Tutor wife, you look totally hot anyway, and I've got it right here."

"That's what I said," Nathan came up behind Haley, "But apparently she's gonna feel 'totally mundane' until she's wearing that top!" he and Lucas laughed, and the girls went to the bathroom so Hales could get changed.

They came out again, Haley feeling much better, and got some drinks, before finding the others.

"Where are they," Haley asked, as they wandered round the rooms. Then they spied a blonde head, "Oh there's Luke." Brooke looked over, and saw Lucas, who was talking to Anna. She frowned slightly, and Haley looked at her, "It'll be totally harmless Brooke," she said soothingly.

"Yeah I know," Brooke brushed it off, and approached him.

"Hey," Lucas said as she came up, and he wrapped an arm round her waist.

"Hey," said Anna, a little shyly, but Brooke smiled at her, albeit a little tightly, which set her slightly at her ease.

"Well I'm…gonna say hi to Peyton," she said, and left them.

Lucas looked at Brooke, but she didn't say anything about. "We were just talking," he said, wanting her to not be in any doubt.

"I know," Brooke said, and hesitated slightly, "It's nice that you guys are okay."

Lucas smiled at her, knowing how hard it was for her to not resent Anna. He kissed her head, and Brooke smiled a little.

Felix watched Brooke and Lucas talking to Haley. Really Haley and Brooke were doing most of the talking, and Lucas was standing behind Brooke with his arms wrapped round her, and his head resting against hers. Her fingers trailed lazily along his wrists.

Haley and Brooke were chatting animatedly about something, and then Nathan came up with some drinks and joined in. Felix felt his stomach clench as he saw Lucas whisper something in Brooke's ear, and she giggled, reaching a hand behind her and wrapping it round his neck. As the others talked Lucas continued to just stand with her, looking utterly content, occasionally dropping a kiss on her head.

Felix remembered when he and Brooke had been together, Brooke had always been restless in his arms, she would only stay still for a few minutes, then she would break away and find something else to do, sometimes taking him with her, but nevertheless never happy to just be with him.

With Lucas she looked as if she could stay in his arms forever, and would not complain once. And Felix hated it.

"Jealous, much?" his sister had approached him, and had worked out what he was looking at.

Felix looked away, and didn't answer.

"Just get over her, Felix. There's hundreds of other girls out there, and, although I hate to admit it, probably quite a few who wouldn't turn down a date with you."

Felix gave her a sideways look, "Maybe you're right."

"I am," Anna said forcefully, "And who knows, maybe you'll even end up being friends. Me and Lucas get on okay, because there are no feelings there anymore. Once you get over pining for her, it'll all be okay."

Brooke came out of the kitchen with a glass of coke, and looked around for Lucas. As part of her new resolution to drink less, she was now onto soft drinks after a couple of glasses of a delicious pink concoction Theresa had made. She couldn't see him anywhere but then caught sight of him in the corner talking to…Anna. Again.

She frowned slightly. She knew she was over reacting, but she couldn't help it. Suddenly, she didn't feel like being with him and so went outside without him seeing her and sat on the back steps of the porch.

A few minutes later Lucas came out and sat down next to her.

"Hey," he said, "Someone said you came out here, you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," she said, "I just wanted a little air."

He wrapped an arm round her, "You sure?"

She nodded. He watched her; he was certain she was keeping something from him and he didn't like it. She did not relax into his arms like she usually. He had an idea of what might be bugging her but he wasn't sure how to bring it up. He was sure she would become defensive if he started making presumptions.

"If there's anything you want to talk about…" he hesitated, "You can talk to me okay?"

She turned to look and him, and nodded. Then she smiled, slightly sadly, and nodded again, this time leaning her head against his neck as she did so. He held her tightly, and they sat there for a few minutes, looking up at the stars. Brooke forgot about her earlier discontent and felt calm, the cool night air soothing her. She snuggled a little closer to Lucas and he smiled.

He looked down at her, and lifted her chin with one finger; he looked into her eyes for a second, which were slightly wide with expectation. "I love you Brooke," he whispered.

She was stunned into silence for a second, and then kissed him, cupping his cheek with her hand. As they broke apart she looked up at him. "I love you too," she said, smiling.

At that moment Haley burst out of the living room, accompanied by the noise of the party, "Hey guys! We've been looking for you, you gotta come dance! Oh! sorry," she said, as she noticed them looking a little preoccupied, "Did I interrupt something?"

Brooke looked over her shoulder and smiled at her, "We'll be right in," she said.

They spent the next hour or so hanging out with the others. Brooke felt the ecstatic happiness she had been feeling for most of the week return, as she joked around with all her friends, never leaving Lucas' arms.

They danced a little too. Brooke loved dancing, and she especially loved dancing with Lucas. She ground against him; her arms wrapped tightly round his neck, their bodies pressed together. Lucas saw a little of the old Brooke appear, the sexy, fun-loving side of her that she hadn't lost. He wondered how many guys were watching her right then thinking they'd kill to be in his place.

They eventually left the party a little after midnight. Lucas had promised he wouldn't be home too late and Brooke was a little drained from the day's events. Lucas drove her home and walked her up to her door.

He took her hands and pulled her towards him, "Goodnight," he said, kissing her on the lips.

"Goodnight," she replied, "I love you."

He smiled, "I love you too," he kissed her once more, and then she went inside. Lucas went back to his car, feeling blissfully happy.

* * *

"Hey Broody," Brooke entered Karen's Café and sat down at the counter that Lucas was standing behind talking to his Mom. 

"Hey," he leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"Hi Brooke," Karen smiled at her, and Brooke greeted her too.

"Do you want anything?"

Brooke hesitated, "Um, no, it's okay, I left my purse at home." Brooke didn't want to admit that she had almost run through the small allowance her parents had given her for the last month to buy some more food.

"Don't worry, I think I can afford to treat my son's girlfriend! What would you like?"

"Are you sure?" Brooke asked, "A hot chocolate would be great thanks."

"Coming right up!"

Lucas leaned on the counter opposite Brooke while his Mom set to work on the hot chocolate.

"How are you for money right now?" he asked, he still found it a little odd that Brooke was no longer rich.

Brooke bit her lip, "Not great."

"Do you want to borrow some, I mean, do you have for enough for groceries and stuff?"

"I'm not gonna borrow money off you Lucas!" Brooke laughed, although the offer was tempting, "I'll be fine, I just need to find a job."

Lucas raised his eyebrows, an idea coming to him.

"Here you go," Karen placed a tall, steaming mug in front of Brooke.

"Thank you so much Karen," Brooke grinned, "This is exactly what I'm in the mood for!"

"Hey mom," Lucas said, "Weren't you just saying the other day that you need another waitress?"

Karen looked over at him, "Um, yeah, why?"

Lucas looked to Brooke. "You need a waitress?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Karen, "One left for college recently and I've been looking for a replacement. Haley's been going nuts!"

"Do you think…could I maybe try out?"

"Of course," Karen smiled, "That would be great! Come to Haley's next shift with her and she can show you the ropes."

"Oh my god, thank you!"

"Glad I could help," Karen said, before turning to a new customer who had just come in.

"I can't believe Hales didn't mention she needed help here!" Brooke said, "Thank you Broody, you're the best!"

Lucas grinned, "Well I think the others sort of forget sometimes that you're not as well off as you always were. If it weren't for the absence of your old bed I think I would sometimes too!"

Brooke laughed, "Yeah I miss that bed…the new one's so small"

"Too small!" Lucas said, "I think that should be the first things on your list to buy with all the new money you're going to be earning."

"I think food should be first," Brooke said, "And I think you should pay for half the bed seeing as you use it almost as much as me!"

"Hey, who got you the job!"

Brooke shrugged, "I guess you're right."

"As soon as you get you're first pay check I'll take you bed shopping," Lucas grinned.

"Broody, do you have any idea how much beds cost?"

"No, do you?"

"No…but it's a lot!"

"Well whatever, we can go anyway, and pick one out even if you can't buy it. Maybe test a couple out…"

"Ew! Luke!"

He chuckled, "I was kidding, but speaking of that, I think we should make sure you really need a new bed first, which means we're going to have to test out your current one again…"

"Now that is an idea," She smiled, and grabbed his hand as they left the café.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed it, if so, REVIEW! The next chapter will be up soon, but it's pretty short, because it's sort of specific. Early warning: it's about to geta little angsty!_


	11. Chapter 11

_This is short because I wanted to end it at a certain point, but I'll try to have the next bit up soon. Thank you for all the reviews of the last chapter, I love you all!

* * *

_

Brooke noticed Peyton's absence in her first period of the day, English. Lucas had the class with her but hadn't seen her that morning either, and when Brooke asked around at lunch neither had any of the others.

"Where's Jake," Haley asked, "He'd probably know."

"Have any of you seen him," Brooke asked, getting a little worried.

"They probably just skipped classes together," Nathan said, "I'm sure we'll see them this afternoon."

Brooke was still worried however. It was unlike Jake to miss school; he sometimes had to miss classes because of Jenny and he didn't like getting behind. Maybe Jenny was sick or something, Brooke thought, but Peyton would probably have called her.

"I'm going to go round to her house," she told Haley, as they were about to enter their Math class.

Haley hesitated, "I'll come too."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." They quickly turned around and left before their teacher came, passing Theresa on her way in and telling her to make up an excuse for them.

Haley dialled Nathan's cell as they got into Brooke's car and told him where they were going, and to pass the message onto Lucas too.

When they pulled up to Peyton's house her car was outside, and they exchanged a look as they walked up the path. Haley lifted a hand to knock but Brooke pushed the door open and went inside, pulling Haley after her.

They went upstairs and down the corridor to Peyton's bedroom, Haley noting that none of the lights were on and that Peyton's normally loud music was not playing.

They went into her room, half expecting to find it empty, but saw immediately that Peyton was indeed inside.

She was sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest, crying. Her easel was set up in one corner, a canvas on it and a discarded paintbrush on the ledge. There was the beginnings of a drawing on it but a large black line had been put through it.

Brooke rushed over to her, sitting down next to her and wrapping an arm wound her.

"Peyt?"

Peyton said nothing but continued to cry, and Haley came and sat down too, gently rubbing her back, "What happened?" she asked.

Peyton looked up, and they saw that her eyes were swollen and red, "Jake left," she choked.

"Oh my god," Brooke hugged her friend, wishing she could make all her pain go away. "I'm sorry Pey," she whispered.

Haley couldn't believe it. Peyton had been back on track, she had been past the weeks when they had all worried about her constantly. Jake had come back and had made her smile again, and she had opened up to Brooke, been honest about her struggle with drugs and beaten it. She had finally been herself in the last month, happier than Haley had ever known her. It wasn't fair for her to have that ripped away again.

"Why?" she asked.

"Nicki called," Peyton said, "She found out he was back in Tree Hill, and she called and said she was coming to take Jenny," she paused as more tears rolled down her cheeks, "He had to leave right away. He came to say goodbye this morning."

"Do you know where he went?" Brooke asked.

"No," she shook her head, "He didn't know yet, he said he'd call."

Haley and Brooke exchanged dismayed looks. Haley tried to be optimistic, "He'll come back," she said, "He won't be away forever."

"He can't come back, Nicki will find him as soon as he does."

"You can't think that Pey," Brooke said, even though she might be right, "This will all be cleared up soon, and Nicki will go away, and everything will go back to how it was."

Peyton just shook her head.

They stayed with her for another half an hour. Eventually they persuaded her to come downstairs and have something to eat. They sat and talked, and cheered her up a little. Then Peyton insisted they go back to school, and that she'd be fine for a couple of hours. Brooke didn't want to leave her, but she said she just wanted to be alone for a little bit, so they left, promising they'd come round later.

They met up with Lucas and Nathan when they came back, and told them what had happened. They were both sad to hear the news, not only was Peyton now back where she'd started, but they'd lost one of their best friends again.

When school was over, Brooke met Haley outside, "Hey, I was just going to go round to Peyton's, do you want a ride?"

"Brooke, I'm sorry, I have to go to Karen's, I've got a shift."

"Oh my god, I completely forgot. I've got a shift now too," Haley had taught Brooke all the basics a couple of days ago, and Brooke had worked out a schedule with Karen. She and Haley were both meant to be working that afternoon.

Haley hesitated, "I'm sire Karen would understand…"

"No, I have to do it, I only just started I can't miss it."

They agreed to go round to Peyton's later, and headed off to the café together instead.

* * *

Brooke went over to Peyton's after her shift. Haley had gone home briefly to see Nathan and get changed, and would meet her later. She hurried through the door, ignoring the doorbell as she usually did and went up the stairs, eager to see her best friend and make sure she was okay. 

She opened the door to Peyton's room and was suddenly thrown back in time, seeing once more the image which still haunted her dreams. Her best friend in the arms of her boyfriend.

She turned and left, hurrying down the stairs, her heart racing.

"Brooke!" Lucas' voice called after her, and as she went out onto the porch he caught her arm, "Brooke she was just upset! I came to see how she was and she was crying, I was just comforting her, nothing happened. I would never…"

Brooke cut him off, "It's okay.," she said, thought her voice was shaking slightly, she shook herself, "It's okay," she repeated, "I'm sorry, I just kind of freaked out… I overreacted."

Lucas looked uncertain, "Are you sure you're okay? Because I promise it was nothing, I would never do that to you."

Brooke nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll call you later," she turned and walked quickly to her car. Lucas stared after her, feeling very uncertain.

Brooke lay on her bead, he mind racing. Her heart was still beating at an unnaturally fast pace, and her insides were churning.

Why had she freaked out like that?

'Because you've been waiting for that to happen,' a small voice in her head taunted her. 'You were expecting it, you knew it wouldn't be perfect forever.'

But Lucas hadn't cheated on her. He'd just been comforting Peyton like he'd said, and she believed him. She believed him when he said he would never do that to her…so why did she immediately jump to the worst conclusion.

She rolled on her side, clutching a pillow to her stomach. She closed her eyes tight, and suddenly there it was, the image of Lucas and Peyton kissing on the web cam. She prayed for it to go away; it was in the past, it was over. But she still wasn't over it.

As she realised what she had to do, tears began rolling down her cheeks, and she clutched the pillow a little tighter.

* * *

"Lucas?" she entered his room, and found him reading on his bed, like she had so many times in the last couple of weeks. 

"Hey!" he put down the book and stood up, his expression suddenly changing as he saw her face, "What's wrong?"

She was shaking slightly, "Um…we need to talk."

"Brooke, what's going on?" Lucas felt his heart grow cold at her words.

"I've been thinking about some things and there's some stuff that I can't get away from. I rushed into this too soon and…"

"Brooke please don't do this," Lucas interrupted, his eyes begging her to stop, "Please, please don't do this."

She struggled on, choking slightly on her words, "I can't do this right now. I thought I was over everything but I'm not, and when I saw you with Peyton…"

"Brooke, nothing happened! I told you I was just comforting her, she was upset about Jake and…"

"I know! I know, and I believe you, and I want to be able to trust you again with all my heart, but…it was too soon Luke. We rushed into this again and it's not fair for you. It's better this way, I just need some time."

"How can you say this is better?" he said, his heart growing cold, "How can us not being together be better? We can work on our relationship together."

"I just need some time," she repeated, shaking her head, "I'm sorry."

He felt like his insides were being ripped apart; they were so happy. She reached a hand out to him, but he stepped away, and the tears began to fall faster down her cheeks. She shut her eyes, summoning all her strength to not break down entirely. She reached out to him again, and this time her let her take his hand.

"You remember what I told you, before your mom came back from Italy last year? Well I still believe that, it's just…it's not the end yet Luke." She gave him one last sad look, and left.

Lucas watched her go, a tiny fleck of hope in his heart as he remembered her words, 'People who are meant to be together always find their way in the end.'

* * *

_I hope you don't want to kill me right now! Be reassured by the fact that this will be BL again eventually, and you can look forward to many a tension filled moment and longing look in the near future. I thinkthis will work well for the fic andI didn't want togloss over all of Brooke's insecurities.If you need a happy BL fix, I recommend, in a piece of blatant advertising, my other story 'The Ski Trip', which has just been updated! ;)_

_PLEASE REVIEW with all your thoughts. Thanks for reading!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Thank you for all the reviews! Glad to see people are sticking with this story, I promise you won't regret it (although I'm afraid that doesn't mean this chapter gets any happier!)_

* * *

Brooke woke up, slowly opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling. She sighed, and then turned her head to the side, looking at the empty space beside her. She curled up, pulling the covers under her chin, and closed her eyes again. She wanted to fall back asleep, so she wouldn't have to go to school and face everyone…and Lucas. 

Just the thought of seeing him and not following it by jumping into his arms caused tears to form behind her eyes. She squeezed them tighter. She wanted to be in his arms again so much, but the more she wanted it the more scared it made her of losing him again, and she couldn't face that right now. She couldn't shake off the memories of her heartbreak. She had made the right choice, she was sure of that…she just wished sticking to it wasn't so hard.

She had spent the weekend with Peyton. At first Peyton had been mortified when she heard that Brooke had broken up with Lucas; she was sure that it was her fault. Although indirectly it was, Brooke reassured her that she should not feel bad about it, that it had been her decision, and that it had not really had anything to do with the other day. She didn't want Peyton to be worrying about any more right then than she had too; she was still suffering from Jake's departure.

They had watched some old movies, and mostly just stayed at home, too drained and upset to do much else. Haley dropped by for a little, Brooke resisted the urge to ask her how Luke was doing, and Haley hadn't told her anything. She had said that it was Brooke's decision, and she understood how she felt, but she had looked a little disappointed.

Her alarm clock went off again, and she hit the snooze button for the fourth time. Summoning all her resolve, she finally threw back the covers, and sat up. She wandered over to her wardrobe and pulled out some random clothes, heading into her bathroom to take a shower.

* * *

"Luke?" Haley's voice came into Lucas' room, and he came out of the bathroom. 

"Hales? Hi, where's Nathan?"

"Well I figured he could get to school on his own today. I thought my best friend on the other hand might need a little encouragement." She gave him a small smile.

"Yeah…I was sort of debating whether to go."

"Which is why I'm here. Luke, you know it's not going to get easier anytime soon. You just have to get through these days."

Lucas sighed. "You're right, of course. I just…I don't know if I can take seeing her. And everyone's going to be hanging out together and it'll just be…really weird."

Haley looked sympathetic. "I know. But you still have to go. And you never know, you might not even see her."

Lucas looked sceptical.

"Ok, so you probably will," she conceded, "But I'll try to make it as easy on you as possible."

"Fine, I'm coming," Lucas finally relented. He followed Haley out the door to his car, praying that this day would be over soon.

* * *

Brooke got her books out of her locker, cautiously looking round for Lucas, not sure whether she wanted to see him or not. Peyton approached her. 

"Hey, I wasn't sure if I was gonna see you today," she said.

"Yeah, well I wasn't sure if I was going to be here," Brooke replied.

"Have you seen him yet?" Peyton asked.

Brooke shook her head. "Are you okay?" she asked, changing the subject, "Being here without Jake?"

Peyton shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest, "I guess. It's hard, but I know I just have to get through it." Brooke nodded, linking arms with her as they made their way down the hall.

"Do you think I'll be able to be friends with him?" Brooke asked quietly, after a few minutes of silence.

Peyton hesitated, unsure what to say. "I think so," she replied after a short pause, "It's just…last time you guys were friends you flirted more than most couples. And you ended up dating. It might take a while for you to get used to the '**just** friends' thing for real."

Brooke considered her words, nodding vaguely. "God this day's going to be hard," she said finally.

It wasn't until fourth period that she saw him. Turning into a corridor on her way to English with Peyton, he was suddenly right there at the other end of it. She stopped dead, and he did the same. He looked exactly as he had on Friday, yet so much had changed. He was in his grey hoody, which she had worn countless times, and although she could not see it she knew there would still be the LB in a heart scrawled on his folder.

They had been in those exact spots many times before, and normally would keep walking and then head into the class together to take their usual seats next to each other. But today they did not. Peyton gently pulled Brooke's arm, and they continued walking, entering the classroom while Lucas stood in the hallway. Brooke used all her will not to look over her shoulder, and when he came in a few minutes later and took a seat on the other side of the room, he did not look at her either.

* * *

Practice that day was more than a little awkward. All the cheerleaders could tell that their captain was distracted, and even the ones who hadn't yet heard of her break up with Lucas had a good idea of what it might be. She kept glancing over at the basketball players, or forgetting what she was saying. Brooke was usually very focused in practice, keeping the rest of the team going. Even when she was flirting with Lucas across the gym she kept her head on her squad, but today they could tell her heart wasn't in it. 

After practice Brooke waited in the gym as the others left. Peyton came up, "Are you going to try and talk to him?" she asked.

Brooke nodded, feeling too nervous to speak.

"Good luck," Peyton smiled, "I'll call you later, ok?"

"Thanks, bye Pey."

Eventually Whitey let the team go too, and they all headed off to the locker room. Lucas had seen Brooke stay behind, because he too had had an eye on her during practice, and he braced himself to talk to her.

"Lucas," she asked tentatively, approaching him as he passed her.

He turned, "What?" he asked, not unpleasantly but not with the usual soft tone he saved just for her either.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

He sighed and nodded, and they waited for everyone else to leave so they would have a little privacy. Whitey was the last to go, and he glanced back at them as he did so. He didn't want to get involved with the mess that was his players' love-lives, but he hoped that they could sort this one out so his star shooting guard would get his head back in the game.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Lucas asked.

Brooke hesitated, she found it hard to get over his cold tone, but she guessed she should have expected it.

"I just wanted to see how you were," she said quietly. "We've kind of been avoiding each other all day."

"You wanted to see how I am?" Lucas asked, incredulously. "I'm just great Brooke! The girl I love broke up with me for no apparent reason the other day, but I'm swell!"

"Luke, that's not fair! I explained it to you, you said you understood."

"Yeah I did, but now after today I don't. How can you think this is a good idea? This day has been hell Brooke and you know it. I love you Brooke, and I know you love me too. So why can't we be together?"

"Because it's too soon! I'm not over what happened and I'm afraid of getting hurt again. It's not fair to you for me to be constantly burying my feelings about that."

"Not fair to me? What's not fair for me is that three days ago I was the happiest I'd ever been and now suddenly everything's been taken away!" Lucas was almost shouting now and Brooke stepped back, feeling tears start to form behind her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she choked, "I'm so so sorry, but I really think this will be better. Please understand…" she trailed off as the tears started to fall. Lucas had been about to interrupt, but now he stopped. He watched her cry, silently pleading with him to forgive her. He felt more conflicted than ever. Part of him wanted to take her in his arms and make it all go away. Apologise for everything he'd said, brush away her tears and say she could have as much time as she needed. But then he remembered that she had been the one to stop him from doing that. She broke things of, so why should he comfort her when she had caused them both so much pain? He knew if he stayed any longer he would give in to her, and give her whatever she wanted, but he wasn't quite ready to forgive her yet.

"I can't do this now," he said, his eyes weary and sad. She watched him turn and walk away, the tears still running down her cheeks.

Lucas got in his car and drove, still fuming. But as his anger subsided it was replaced by a great sadness, and worse, a strong sense of guilt. He had made her cry. He had promised he would never do that again, and now he had.

He drove to his Mom's café, and approached Haley, who was working behind the counter.

"Hey," she said when she saw him, "How'd it go with Brooke?"

He didn't say anything but sat down, resting his head in his hands.

"That bad, huh?"

He looked up, and gave a small nod. "I think I blew it."

Haley groaned, "Luke, what'd you do?"

"I got a little angry. I know!" he exclaimed, seeing her expression, "I had no right to, and now I feel awful. I just…I can't believe she did this."

"Lucas you can't take time to get your head around this. The fact is, she's not ready to be with you yet, because of something _you_ did," she reminded him, "So you just have to be patient and understanding because you already had your turn at screwing up."

Lucas sighed, "I know. It's just…I thought we were past all that. That finally, we had moved on. I guess I just didn't expect it all to come up again, so I'm not reacting too well."

"_You_ were past it Luke, of course you were. The sooner you could forget about it the better as far as you were concerned. And I'm not surprised, no one wants to remember their mistakes. But it's harder to forget about stuff like that when you're on the receiving end."

"What am I going to do?" Lucas asked.

"Well first you've got to fix what you just did. And then you can think about making up for your past mistakes."

He nodded glumly. He knew that was easier said than done.

* * *

The next couple of days were very awkward. Peyton had called Brooke that night and Brooke told her what happened, and next day at school Lucas found that neither of the girls were talking to him. He had been hoping Peyton might help him in getting Brooke to talk to him so he could apologise, but it seemed his outburst had made him a few enemies. 

In lessons Brooke acted like he wasn't there, and the group split at lunch so they didn't have to sit together. Nathan and Haley were having a rough time trying to help their friends. While Haley felt her loyalty should be to Lucas, she didn't want to lose Brooke, since she really valued the friendship they had formed over the past year. Nathan too was split between one of his oldest friends, who he looked out for like a sister, and his brother, who was also now one of his closest friends.

* * *

"Are you ever going to talk to him?" Peyton asked Brooke tentatively one lunch, when they were in the library catching up on some homework. 

Brooke looked up and frowned. "I just can't right now Pey. Whenever I do I get so confused. Anyway we'd probably only end up screaming at each other like last time."

"Hey, he's sorry for that, you know he is."

Brooke conceded, Haley had told them Lucas had regretted his outburst, but Brooke hadn't wanted to hear anything else about what he was feeling. It made her feel horrible for causing him so much pain.

"Maybe…maybe if you just start hanging out with the group again. Just get used to being around him again, and then gradually it'll get better," Peyton suggested.

Brooke considered it, "Yeah, maybe."

So the next day at lunch Peyton and Brooke sat down where Haley, Nathan and Lucas were eating. Lucas looked up, but Brooke refused to catch his eye.

"Hey guys," Haley said, trying to sound normal.

"Hey," Peyton said, a little too cheerily. Brooke gave Nathan and Haley a small smile. She ate mostly in silence, listening to Peyton and Haley talk. After a while Nathan nudged her foot under the table. She looked up.

'You okay?' he mouthed.

She nodded slightly.

"Want a chip?" he asked, holding one out to her. She smiled properly for the first time in almost a week, and took it from him. Trust Nathan to ignore all the crap going on and cheer her up.

"Thanks," she said. She glanced over at Lucas, and he caught her eye. She held it for a second, and then looked down.

"Brooke!"

Peyton and Brooke had gone to stash their trays, and now turned to see Lucas behind them. Peyton glanced at Brooke, who was looking anywhere but at Lucas.

"Um, I'll see you later," Peyton said, and left.

"Can we talk?" Lucas asked.

Brooke sighed and looked up, "I don't know Lucas. I don't think…"

"I wanted to apologise about Monday, I shouldn't have…" he was interrupted by the bell for afternoon lessons. He ignored it and carried on but Brooke took a couple of steps back.

"I'm sorry, I've gotta go," she turned quickly and left, leaving him standing watching her retreating figure.

Brooke and Haley both had a shift at Karen's the next day. Brooke had been trying to avoid Lucas as much as possible while she was there, and Karen had been very understanding when she'd heard what had happened, and had warned Lucas to give her a little space.

But now Brooke had just finished serving someone their coffee at the counter when Lucas and Nathan walked through the door.

They approached the counter and sat down, and Haley came over to say hi, and give Nathan a kiss. Lucas watched Brooke as she continued to wipe the surface.

"Do you want anything?" she murmured after a minute.

There was a pause while Nathan waited for Lucas to answer, and then he said, "Yeah, I'll have a coffee."

Brooke nodded and continued to look at Lucas, "Lucas, how about you?" she asked.

He looked up, amazed that she'd asked. "Um…I'll have the same," he said. He hadn't realised how much he had missed just the sound of her saying his name.

Brooke prepared the drinks, and Haley exchanged a look with the two boys.

The girls continued working as the guys drank their coffee and talked, Lucas' eyes following Brooke around the café.

After a while Brooke came back to the counter, and started to undo her apron.

"Are you off?" Haley asked, as she came past with a stack of plates.

"Yeah," Brooke replied, "I'm gonna go over to Peyton's and take a shower."

Haley came back out of the kitchen, "Is your water still not fixed?" she asked.

"Nope. I called the guy and apparently it'll take an extortionate amount of money, so I guess it'll be cold showers until my parents decide to give me next months allowance."

"Your water's broken?" Lucas asked, overhearing the conversation.

The two girls turned, "Um, yeah," Brooke said.

"I can fix it if you like," he offered.

Brooke hesitated.

"Keith taught me how to do all that kind of stuff, and Mom's had pretty much every plumbing problem ever here."

"Are you sure?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah."

"You know I can't pay you?"

Lucas didn't even bother replying, he just gave her a look. "When do you want me to do it?"

"Um…tomorrow?" Brooke suggested.

"Sure."

She looked at him, "Thanks Lucas," she said, and he gave her a small smile. She said goodbye to Haley and Nathan, and left.

* * *

Lucas rang the bell and waited anxiously outside the door. He really hoped that Brooke would be in a good mood, and that she'd talked to him. He wanted more than anything just to apologise so they could try to be friends again. 

The door was opened by Brooke, clad in a shrunken red hoody that showed of a couple of inches of her tanned, flat stomach. She wasn't wearing anything on her feet and her red-varnished toes were poking out from the bottom of her dark grey sweatpants.

"Come in," she said, and he awkwardly moved past her, before she shut the door behind him.

"Umm, the bathroom's this way," she pointed and he looked at her, trying to get her to break her cold façade.

She looked down, unable to meet his eyes. "Whatever, you know the way," she muttered, and turned to go upstairs.

He sighed and made his way down the hall.

Around half an hour later he was doing pretty well with the plumbing, when the door of the bathroom opened, and Brooke came in.

"Um...do you want anything to drink? I was going to make some coffee," she said, half to him and half to the floor.

He looked up, "That would be great, thanks," he said gently, praying she would stay and talk to him.

She didn't though; she just nodded and left, closing the door behind her.

Brooke had had to get out of there. She wasn't sure why she had come downstairs in the first place. She just couldn't stop herself. She didn't know what it was she wanted him to say; she'd been the one who'd broken it off, and she knew she'd made the right decision. But also, she couldn't get him out off her head, and the thought of sitting upstairs in her room, while he was downstairs, and then him finishing, and leaving, and them never talking again, was too horrible a prospect for her to do nothing. But she couldn't do something either.

Being around him made her too upset, and the thought of never seeing him again almost killed her. And a very dishevelled Lucas standing in her bathroom holding a spanner in a tight white T-shirt did not help her in any way sort out her feelings. So she'd left, and now she was making some very strong coffee for herself…and him, and wondering what on earth she was going to do when she went back in there.

Brooke came back with the coffee a few minutes later. Lucas took the cup she held out to him, and smiled inwardly to see she had already added milk for it. Hers was black, and he knew there'd be two spoonfuls of sugar stirred into it. She hovered just inside the door, and sipped her drink. He put down the wrench he was holding and turned to face her.

"How are you?"

"Fine," she said, in a tone that told him she was anything but.

"Brooke, I wanted to say I'm sorry, for how I reacted. I was upset and it wasn't fair what I said. I wrecked everything before and I shouldn't have expected you to be able to get over that so quickly."

Brooke placed her cup on one of the bathroom counters, and pulled the sleeves of her jumper down as she did when she was nervous. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out, instead she just nodded slightly.

Lucas continued, "I know you need time, but I was hoping that maybe in between we could go back to how we were, to being friends."

Brooke bit her lip, and he could see that her eyes were glazed with tears. "It's too hard Luke," she said, "I can't do it, I'm sorry…" she trailed off as her voice began to break.

"Brooke, you can't lose me as your friend, you don't have to be scared of that because I can't hurt you as your friend. So why can't we go back to how we were? I want you in my life Brooke."

"No, you don't understand. It's too hard to be around you! There's too many…feelings, and it drives me crazy that I can't be with you, but I know that it won't work, it's all…too…hard," tears were streaming down her face and Lucas took a step towards her and pulled her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head and she buried it into his chest, soaking his T-shirt.

Brooke felt his arms around her and let herself sink into him, but then she stopped herself and pulled away, wiping away her tears furiously.

"No, see that's what I mean! When I'm with you I just want to forget about everything that happened and pretend it'll all be ok; but I can't keep doing that to you because it's not ok, not yet," she leant her head back against the bathroom wall and sighed.

She looked at him again, and said, more calmly now, "last time we became friends again Luke I let myself fall back in love with you. And I can't do that again. I want us to be friends, I do, I just can't right now. I'm sorry," she said, and she left.

Lucas watched her go, his eyes filled with sadness.

When her pipes were fixed Lucas put away his tools, and carried the two coffee cups from the bathroom into the kitchen, and put them in the dishwasher. He made his way to the door and found Brooke standing on the stairs, a few steps from the bottom. She didn't come down any further, but gave him a small smile.

"Thanks."

He nodded, "no problem." He sighed and turned, opening the door.

"Broody?"

He turned, surprised at the sound of his nickname. She was biting her lip again.

"I just need some time."

He smiled, "You can have as much as you need."

* * *

_Hope you all enjoyed that, you know what to do!_


	13. Chapter 13

_As always thanks for the reviews, enjoy the update!

* * *

_

The next week of school was difficult, but bearable.

Brooke entered her English classroom one day, to find it almost empty except for Lucas and a couple of girls who were deep in conversation in one corner. Peyton had had to go back for a book, but Brooke hadn't counted on Lucas being in there alone. She hesitated by the door, and then made her way to her old seat next to him, sitting down and flashing him a small smile.

Lucas smiled back, and held up the book they were studying, 'Vanity Fair'.

"Did you finish it?" he asked.

Brooke glanced at him, "Yeah," she replied.

"What did you think?"

"Becky's kind of a bitch."

Lucas laughed, and Brooke smiled too. "I guess I should have identified with her though."

Lucas considered this, "There are certain similarities," he said.

Brooke looked at him sharply.

"Not the bitch thing," he said quickly, "Other stuff…"

Brooke raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah, like what?"

"Well, she knows what she wants; she doesn't apologise for herself…she has a certain way of making people fall at her feet…"

Brooke laughed, and they shared a smile. Other people had started coming into the room, including Peyton, who raised an eyebrow when she saw Brooke and Lucas sitting together but accepted it and sat down.

Lucas was encouraged by the fact that Brooke no longer refused totalk tohim, and they even exchanged a few words the next couple of days, although they usually consisted of 'hey' and 'how are you' to which neither of them answered truthfully.

Brooke was coping better being around Lucas, and was slowly getting used to not being able to turn to him with everything. She still missed him though, and hoped they could rebuild their friendship.

By the next Saturday they had made a little headway, and seemed to have reached some kind of truce in which they were civil to each other without it being awkward; so when Haley came round on Saturday morning asking if Brooke wanted to come down to the Rivercourt with them all, she agreed.

When she pulled up in her car, Nathan and Lucas were already playing a game of one on one, and as she approached them Fergie, Skills and Junk arrived to add to the numbers.

"Damn, it sucks that Jake's not here, we don't have even teams," Fergie said.

Skills elbowed him, Peyton was sitting on the bench, but she appeared not to have heard his comment. She was still a little touchy around the subject of Jake.

"Hey Peyt," Brooke came and sat down next to her, and her friend smiled.

"How are you?" she asked.

Brooke considered this, "Okay actually."

"Yeah?"

"Well…a little better than last Saturday!"

Peyton smiled, "Yeah, me too."

"Tutorwife, get over here," Brooke called Haley over, from where she was chatting to Mouth. They both came over and sat on the bench, and Mouth smiled at Brooke, "Hey, how're you doing? I, er…heard about you and Luke."

"I'm okay," Brooke smiled.

They all watched the guys play, laughing at Mouth's commentary, and chatting amongst themselves.

In the end Nathan and Lucas beat the other three 18-16, and came over triumphantly to sit down.

"It's all that fancy coaching you guys get," Skills complained jokingly, "It ain't fair!"

"Nice one Broody," Brooke smiled at Lucas as he sat down, and he returned it, there was a second of silence as the others watched them, interested, and then talking broke out again.

"So I hear you guys had a tough game yesterday," Fergie said to Lucas and Nathan.

"Yeah it was a close one," Nathan agreed, "But we beat them in the end, with a little help from our cheerleaders of course," he said, nodding to Brooke and Peyton.

"Of course," Brooke agreed, grinning. "We could really use Tutorwife back on the squad though, I swear you were the best sub we ever had."

"Oh no no no!" Haley shook her head, "That was a one time thing!"

"Sure it was, you loved it, admit it! Anyway, we've got that competition coming up again in a couple of weeks...who knows, maybe Theresa will get chickenpox again."

"You can only get chickenpox once Brooke," Peyton said, laughing.

"Whatever."

Haley rolled her eyes, "Anyway even if I _wanted _to be a cheerleader Tigger, I really don't have the time. Owning an apartment is really time consuming, especcially since _somebody_ never helps out!"

"Hey I do so," Nathan objected, "I...tidy stuff...and, you know, clean..."

Lucas laughed, "Yeah you sound like you really know your household jobs Nathan!"

"I work! That's what I do. I'm the breadwinner."

"I don't think selling pretzles counts as being the breadwinner," Brooke said laughing.

Nathan scowled at her and Haley kissed his cheek, "Yeah, you're right, you're supporting us, putting food on the table!"

"Well technically you actually _put_ the food on the the table, seeing as you cook most of the time," Nathan conceded, and the others laughed.

* * *

"Sorry to break up the party, but we gotta go," Haleysaid a little later, andstood up. 

"We do?" Nathan asked.

"Yes, do you not remember? We're having lunch with your mom."

"Oh yeah! You're right, sorry guys," he knocked Lucas on the shoulder, and said goodbye to everyone, before following Haley.

"What would I do without you Hales."

"Get a planner," Haley joked, and Nathan laughed and wrapped an arm round her as they went to their car.

The others eventually dispersed too, until only Brooke, Peyton and Lucas were left.

"Well I'm going to go home for lunch," Peyton said finally, "Do you wanna come?" she asked Brooke.

"Um…I'm okay actually," Brooke said, "I think I'll hang out here for a little while," she glanced at Lucas.

"Ok," Peyton looked at them both, "Well, I'll see you later then, bye guys."

Lucas waited till she walked away, and then looked at Brooke. They were sitting on opposite sides of the table, but Brooke was examining her nails. After a moment she looked up, and gave him a small smile.

"How are you?" Lucas asked.

Brooke laughed, "I've been asked that so many times today!"

Lucas chuckled, "And?"

"I'm okay…I guess."

Lucas nodded, "It's been a bit of a weird week, huh."

"Yeah," Brooke nodded, "It has."

There was silence for a second. "It's gonna get better right?" Lucas asked quietly.

Brooke looked up, surprised by his serious, almost scared tone.

"Yes," she said forcefully, "It's gonna get better." He nodded and she hesitated, then slid her hand across the table and took his.

"How's it going working at the café," he asked.

"Really great," she smiled, "Your mom's the best. And it's nice having a little more money for stuff."

"Good. If you ever want a free meal though, you know where to come."

She smiled, "Yeah, thanks Luke."

They talked about the week, catching up with what the other was doing. It felt so good to talk again, that it was only when Lucas noticed his stomach rumbling that they realised they'd been there foralmost an hour.

"I'd better go home," Brooke said, reluctantly.

"Yeah, me too."

They stood up, and Brooke opened her mouth to say something, hesitating slightly, "I'm really glad I hung around," she said finally.

He smiled, "Me too."

She returned his smile, and took a step towards him, standing on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll see you Broody."

"Soon I hope," he said and she began to turn around.

She looked back over her shoulder, "I've got a shift at the café tomorrow," she said, and then went to her car.

Lucas watched her go. He knew where he'd be eating tomorrow.

* * *

That evening Brooke lay on her bed listening to some music. She remembered the time years ago when it would be unthinkable for her to be in on a Saturday night. Now it seemed just as strange to be alone on a Saturday night, and not in Lucas' arms. 

She turned her head to look at the pile of photos and other things that reminded her of him that she had taken down from her walls over the last week. There were still a few pictures of them with their friends up on her mirror but the ones of just the two of them now all lay on her bedside table.

She reached out a hand a picked them up, her fingers barely gripping them as she brought them in front of her. She looked through them, the now common feeling of sadness and confusion welling up inside her. She stopped on her favourite. Haley had taken it one evening at her and Nathan's apartment. They had all just been hanging out, and in the photo Brooke was sitting in Lucas' lap, and was talking to Peyton, who was just out of the shot. She was laughing about something, and Lucas was looking down at her, a smile on his face, and his arms wrapped tightly round her.

Brooke was surprised to find herself smiling at the memory; maybe her tears were finally spent.

* * *

Brooke had just finished serving a customer when the bell on the door rang, signally someone had just entered. She looked up quickly, but saw it was just an old man. Another waitress showed him to a table, and she went to clear a table. 

She wouldn't admit it to herself, but she was half expecting Lucas to come in. For some reason his expression when she'd told him she had a shift had made her think he might come and see her. And even if she was wrong, he often just came by to see his mom anyway…

She shook herself, and carried the dirty plated into the kitchen at the back.

"Is Brooke Davis working today?"

She heard the voice through the door, and groaned; she recognised it all too well, and she really didn't feel like seeing him right now.

'Don't say I'm here,' she silently willed the other waitress.

"Yeah, I think she's just in the back, I'll go get her for you."

Brooke sighed, 'well that worked,' she thought.

"Brooke, there's a really hot guy here to see you," her co-worker came in, looking very excited.

"Thanks Chrissy," Brooke said, with what Christina thought was not nearly enough enthusiasm considering the situation. She went out and approached the counter, "Hi Felix."

"Hey Brooke," he smiled his wide, bright white smile. "How are you," the smile disappeared and was replaced by a look of sincere concern.

"I'm fine, what do you want?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing…I heard…about Lucas."

Brooke grimaced, "Well I'm okay, thanks."

Felix sat down at the counter, and Brooke gritted her teeth; why wouldn't he just go?

"Look, I know you probably don't want to talk about it right now, but if you ever do…"

She nodded, eager to just get rid of him.

"And I dunno, maybe now…we could be friends."

"Now?"

"Yeah, I mean, I know we never really saw eye to eye about Lucas…"

"Felix I don't know what you think happened, but just becausehe and I aren'tdating anymore it doesn't mean Lucas is totally out of my life. And it doesn't change the fact that I don't really want to be friends with you. I'm sorry, but I just don't think it would work."

Felix looked hurt, but nodded, "Fine. I was just trying to be nice."

Brooke felt bad for a minute, but pushed the feeling away. She had enough to worry about right now.

Suddenly the bell rang again and Lucas walked in. Brooke, having spend most of her shift waiting for this, suddenly didn't want him there. She really hated it whenever he and Felix were in the same room, and what with recent events it was bound to get a little tense.

"Hey Brooke," Lucas smiled at her, and she returned it. Then he caught sight of Felix, and frowned.

"Lucas," said Felix.

Lucas heaved a sigh, "Hey."

Brooke looked down, twisting a ring on her finger.

Felix looked between Brooke and Lucas and sighed, standing up. "I'll see you around Brooke," he said, and left.

"Bye," Brooke said, not really loud enough for him to hear it.

Lucas watched him go and then sat down in his place, unsure whether to ask about his presence or not. Brooke saved him from his dilemma by saying, "He just came for a coffee."

Lucas looked around for his coffee cup, and then looked back at Brooke. She blushed, "He just wanted to see how I was."

Lucas nodded, "It's okay, you don't have to…justify anything."

"No, really! He just kind of showed up. He was only here for a minute." Lucas hated to admit it, but this made him feel much better, he didn't know if he'd be able to stand it if Brooke started seeing someone else.

"Do you want something?" Brooke asked, after a short pause.

"Um, yeah, some coffee would be great, do you want one?"

"Er, I'm not really supposed to, I'm working…"

"I think my mom would let you off," Lucas said.

Brooke smiled, "Okay, thanks." She went over to the coffee machine and began to make them. She could feel Lucas watching her and got a little flustered, hesitating momentarily.

"The instructions are on the bag," Lucas said, chuckling.

Brooke turned, glaring at him, but trying not to laugh at the same time, "I know how to make coffee Lucas."

She made two cups and Lucas paid for them, and she leant against the counter, holding her mug inboth hands, sipping it. Her mind was travelling bag to the first time he had said those words to her, over a year a ago, when they had spent the night watching over Peyton.

She remembered thinking then how amazing he was, how he was the first guy in so long to look at her like she was more than just a body. She glanced across at him, and saw that he too seemed to be deep in thought. She led her mind back to the present; it was always hard thinking of that time without remembering what had come next.

He suddenly seemed to break out of his reverie, and looked up.

"Sorry," he said, "I was just…thinking." 'or remembering,' he added mentally.

"It's okay," she smiled, "I sort of zoned out myself too." They knew they had both been thinking about that first time they had drunk coffee together, when the other was just an exciting new entity creeping into their hearts.

They came back to the present and talked a little about Jake, and when they thought he'd be back.

"How's Peyton dealing with it?" Lucas asked.

"I dunno, I think she's getting better, just, you know…adjusting." She looked down as she said these last words, they hita little close to home.

"She'll pull through," he said.

"Yeah, definitely."

His handshad absent mindedlyfound hers as theywere resting on the counter. He gave one of them a small squeeze, and suddenly noticed her bracelet around her wrist.He ran his fingers over the charms, finding the silver heart.

"You still wear this?"

"Yeah," she smiled, looking down at it, touching the charm lightly. "Once something's on the bracelet I'd never take it off," she looked up at him, and their eyes met.

"Good," he smiled.

* * *

_**Please** review!_


	14. Chapter 14

Everyone was in the gym, for basketball and cheerleading practice.

"Hey, is Brooke Davis still going out with Lucas?"

Kenny, one of the guys on the basketball team, looked up at his friend Josh, who had asked the question. "No, they broke up. How did you not know that?"

"Well that's what I heard, but…" he nodded his head towards the other end of the gym and Kenny looked over. Lucas was standing there talking to Brooke, who appeared to be moaning about something he was saying and was tugging on the front of his T-shirt.

Kenny shrugged, "They're still friends I guess, but they've definitely broken up. Anyway, come on, it's Brooke, she flirts with everyone!"

Josh looked at him, "Not anymore." He had always enjoyed Brooke's open nature; there was nothing like a wink from Brooke Davis as a pick me up in a long school day, but she never did that anymore…except to Lucas.

"So she's single?" he asked.

"Yeah I guess…although you might want to wait a while, you don't want to piss off Lucas."

Josh watched as Lucas laughed at something Brooke was saying, and then pulled her into a one armed hug before jogging over to the others.

Brooke watched him and, sure enough, winked at him when he looked back at her, before going to join her squad.

"Well…we'll see," Josh said, before Whitey got everyone started on a practice.

* * *

"Hey, Brooke!" 

Brooke turned to find Josh, one of the guys on the basketball team, jogging towards her.

"Hey Josh."

"Hey, um, I was wondering if you'd want to go out with me sometime?"

Brooke was taken aback by his question. She hadn't really thought about dating other guys yet.

"Er…I'm not sure if…"

"I totally understand if you don't want to or anything. I mean, I know about you and Lucas. But it would just be for fun, nothing serious."

Brooke hesitated, "Can I think about it?" she asked.

"Sure," Josh smiled, "Let me give you my number and you can give me a call…or not, whatever you want."

"Okay," Brooke nodded and he wrote his number on her hand. "I'll see you around," he said, she and went to her car, deep in thought.

Brooke was working a shift at the café with Haley that afternoon.

"Brooke, what's up?" Haley asked after a while, when Brooke had been wiping the same table for five minutes.

"What?" Brooke asked. Haley nodded at the table, which was gleaming so much she could see her reflection in it.

"Oh, sorry! I guess I'm a little preoccupied."

"With what?"

Brooke came over to the counter and put down her cloth, hesitating. "A guy asked me out today," she said finally.

Haley's eyebrows raised, "I see. Well…do you want to go out with him?"

"Normally…yeah. I mean he's one of the few good looking guys in this school who aren't total jerks. I used to kinda like him…but now…"

"There's Lucas."

"Yeah. To be honest, I never really thought I would date other guys while we weren't together. But then…I didn't really know how long we were going to be apart for. And I still don't. Now I think…maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to see someone else for a bit."

Haley nodded slowly, "Maybe. But do you think it's too soon? I mean, it's been what, two weeks?"

"Yeah, a little more."

"And this isn't just because you want to have sex, right?" Haley asked.

"No!" Brooke laughed. "I think it really might help. I can get over everything that happened before properly…and thenLucas and I...can have a new start."

"I understand. It would help you to get past everything, and it might give you some closure. But it's pretty unfair on this other guy…I mean, you'd just be using him until you wanted to be with Luke again."

"No I wouldn't. Anyway it's not like I'm just wasting time till I get back with Luke. That might never happen, I'm still getting over everything and I want to make sure if we're really right for each other."

Haley ignored her scepticism about Brooke's comment, there was no way Brooke and Lucas would be apart for ever. "But do you think it's fair on this guy?"

"He said it wouldn't be anything serious. I'm just worried about what Lucas will say."

Both girls were silent for a second, musing.

"Talk to him," Haley said finally, "Just tell him how you're feeling."

Brooke nodded, "Yeah."

Brooke spent the next day trying to find an opportunity to talk to Lucas. She saw him a couple of times, and they chatted a bit, but she could never quite work up the courage to talk to him about what she really wanted to say.

She came into English and sat down next to him. They only had a few minutes but she might be able to talk to him now.

He caught sight of her face, "What's up?" he asked, a little concerned.

"Um…nothing," she just couldn't bring it up right then.

"Brooke…" he said, knowing something was distracting her.

"Seriously, it's nothing."

"You seem to forget that _I know you_. Something is up."

She smiled, "I'll tell you about it later."

He pouted, "Tell me now."

She shook her head, grinning at his face. He raised an eyebrow, and then reached forward, tickling her.

She laughedand grabbed his wrists, stopping him. There's eyes met for a second and a flicker of electricity ran through them. She dropped his wrists as the teacher came in, and they both faced the front.

Lucas gave her a sideways look, and she caught a glimpse of his grin before he looked away again.

Brooke sighed. Despite her denying what Haley had said earlier about sex, it was still a slight factor. She would suggest a no strings attached night with Lucas, if it wasn't totally inappropriate and cause masses of emotional fall-out. Itwould release a little of the tension that had been building recently though!

Eventually she gave up trying to talk to him between lessons and decided to see him after school. She got out of her car at the Rivercourt and saw Lucas shooting hoops. When she'd found his house empty she'd guessed he'd be here, and was glad to find him on his own.

He tried a three pointer and made, and she caught the ball as it came threw and bounced it as she made her way over to him.

He smiled at her, and knocked the ball out of her hands when she was close enough. She pouted as he held it in his hands, and he grinned.

"What's up?" he asked, as they made their way over to the bench, and Lucas set the ball on the table. They sat side by side and heclapped a hand on her knee.

"Um…I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh yeah? About what?"

She was silent for a second, and Lucas watched her. "A guy…asked me out the other day."

Lucas' heart dropped, "Oh," he said.

Brooke glanced at his face, "And I just wanted to talk about…some stuff to do with…that."

"Oh," he said again. He swallowed. "Well, do you want to go out with him?"

Brooke was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure."

"What do you want me to say?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know. Would you be okay with that?" she asked, equally quietly.

"Brooke…I can't say I would like it but it's not my decision, it's none of my business."

"Lucas don't say that. I'm here because I still care about you…a lot. And I would never do anything that would hurt you. Don't make it seem like your nothing to do with me."

Lucas was slightly encouraged by her words, but still couldn't really understand why she would want this if she cared about him so much.

"I think it might help," Brooke said, "It might help me to…to just get past everything. And then maybe we…" she didn't finish the sentence, but they both knew what she meant. Lucas hoped every day that they would still be together again one day.

"Ok."

"Okay? Because I can wait, if it's too soon…"

"No, it's okay. If you think it'll help."

She took his hand and held it in both of her own. "Okay," she said, and kissed him on the cheek.

They stayed talking for a little longer, and then both decided they should go home. They stood up and Lucas pulled Brooke into a hug. He breathed in the scent of her hair and she buried her head into her shoulder. She wanted so much to tell him that he had nothing to worry about, that this wouldn't change anything between them, and that they would be together again one day. But she didn't, because she wasn't completely sure she'd be telling the truth.

* * *

Brooke talked to Josh before practice the next day and they agreed to go to a movie on Friday night. Brooke was glad he hadn't suggested a party or something, she didn't think she could handle being with someone else _in front_ of Lucas quite yet. 

Brooke and Peyton were talking afterwards when Lucas came up.

"Hey," they both greeted him. Josh walked past at that moment and smiled at Brooke. She gave him a weak smile; Lucas looked round to see what who she was looking at and Brooke saw his jaw tighten.

Peyton shifted her weight silently, sensing the tension.

Brooke bit her lip but Lucas gave her an encouraging smile, "See you tomorrow." He left the gym, both girls watching him go.

"So…how's he taking it?" Peyton asked when he'd gone.

Brooke sighed, "Okay."

"Really?" Peyton gave her a sideways look.

"I mean, it's going to be hard…but I think he understands."

"And you're sure about this?" While Haley had been mostly on board with the idea, Peyton had been quite open about the fact she thought Brooke dating again was a bad idea.

"Yes. I just need closure Peyt."

She shrugged, "Okay, if it's what you want."

Brooke was silent as she walked to her car. She couldn't say this was what she _wanted_. But she knew it would be for the better in the end.

* * *

Josh picked Brooke up right on time on friday and they drove to the movie theatre. Brooke tried to stop herself from immediately comparing him with Lucas, but she did note that he didn't do Lucas' thing of arriving early so he could talk to her while she finished getting ready (this had resulted in them never leaving her bedroom on a number of dates). She was glad of this however as she thought it would be a little more awkward than when Lucas did it. 

He bought her popcorn, put his arm round her in the movie, whispered jokes to her about the actors, didn't try anything, and was generally a perfect gentleman.

Brooke seemed to enjoy herself, but Josh could tell that her heart wasn't in it. It would just take time though, right? First date after a break-up is always tough, although he had to admit it never seemed to have affected Brooke Davis before…apart from the last time she broke up with Lucas…

When they got back to Brooke's house after dinner she thanked him, and he kissed her on the cheek. She went inside and he drove away. She was left feeling empty and alone.

Before she had really thought about it, she had picked up the phone and dialled a number…

* * *

There was a knock on Lucas' door. 

"Finally," he muttered, going to open it, "Took you guys long enough!"

"Sorry, sorry," Haley came in, followed by Nathan, "We got a little held up."

Lucas narrowed his eyes, and Haley saw, "Not like that! There was traffic."

"Sure there was."

"We brought some movies, and popcorn," Nathan said.

It was Friday night, and Haley had suggested they reinstate their movie night to keep Lucas' mind of other things. They went into the living room and Nathan went to put the popcorn in the microwave.

"So?" Haley asked, "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Lucas said, faking a confused look, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Haley gave him a look, and Lucas conceded, "Yeah okay. But really, I'm okay."

"If you're sure…but if you want to talk about it…"

"I thought the point of this was for me to _not_ think about it."

Haley laughed, "Yeah, you're right. But really the point of this is so I can spend some time with my best friend."

"Cause we really haven't been spending any time together lately," Lucas said sarcastically. Haley have him a look, "Come one Hales, you see me more than your husband right now!"

Haley laughed, "I guess we have been spending a lot of time together since you and Brooke broke up." She stopped, hesitating awkwardly.

"You don't have to feel uncomfortable every time you bring it up," Lucas said, "I think about her all the time anyway," he added, muttering.

Haley looked at him sadly, and was about to say something, when Nathan came in with the popcorn. "Are we ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lucas said enthusiastically, sitting down on the sofa. Haley hesitated but sat down too, in between Nathan and Lucas, and they started the movie.

Lucas found his mind wandering a little as they watched. He wondered if, at that minute, Brooke was making out with Josh in the back rowof some chick flick. He found he couldn't think about it. Maybe she was right though, maybe a bit of space really would help them.

* * *

...Brooke dialled the number, and waited. 

"Hello?"

She hesitated, "Hey broody."

"Brooke? What's up, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm at home."

"Aren't you meant to be…"

"He just dropped me back," she interrupted, leaving it at that.

"Oh…well what's up."

"Um…I just sort of wanted to talk to someone…" she heard a voice in the background. "Is that Hales?"

"Yeah she's here with Nathan, we're watching a movie."

"Oh…" Brooke hesitated for a second, "Can I come over?"

Lucas was surprised by the request, but he couldn't say he wasn't a little pleased, "Yeah sure, do you want me to pick you up?"

"No it's okay, I'll be there in a minute…thanks Lucas."

"Sure, see you soon."

"Bye." She hung up. What had she just done? She had gone on a date to get over her boyfriend and now she was ending up at said boyfriend's house…well no one ever said she played by the rules!

* * *

"Who was that?" Haley asked, when Lucas hung up the phone. 

"Um…Brooke. She's coming over."

Nathan turned to look at him, eyebrows raised, Haley nodded slowly, very confused. "Okay…do you want us to leave?"

"No, it's fine. She's just gonna come watch the movie."

The other two shared a look. Lucas rolled his eyes and went to get more popcorn.

Brooke came in a little later, not having bothered to knock. "Hey guys," she said, sitting down next to Lucas on the end of the sofa.

"Hey Brooke," Haley said, trying to keep a straight face at the absurdity of the situation.

"What are we watching?" she asked.

"Mission Impossible, we just finishedNotting Hill though."

"You watched it without me!"

"Well we didn't know you were coming," Nathan said.

"Right. Yeah, thanks, by the way…"

"No problem," Lucas smiled at her, and she returned it.

"I'm going to get more popcorn," Haley said, standing up, "Brooke, come with me." She grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the kitchen. Nathan and Lucas both looked, confused, at the almost full bowl of popcorn in his hand.

"Okay, what's going on?" Haley asked, as soon as they were out of the room.

"What do you mean?" Brooke asked innocently.

"How come you're here? I mean, it's great to see you and everything but…what about Josh?"

Brooke sighed, "Look…it doesn't mean anything. I just came back and was feeling really weird, and I wanted to talk to someone."

"So call Peyton or something! You're never going to over Lucas if you go round to his house after every date!"

"Well maybe I don't want to get over him!" Brooke burst out.

Haley looked at her sadly and Brooke crossed her arms.

"What about wanting a clean slate and everything, so you can start from a new beginning."

Brooke was silent.

"I know it's hard but I thought that's what you wanted,." Haley said gently.

"It is,"Brooke said finally, "I'm just not sure if it's going to be possible." She wiped a tear from her cheek. "It's getting better though. The date wasn't too bad…I just…I just wanted to see him, that's all."

Haleyhugged her, and Brooke wiped away more tears with the back of her hand."Maybe you don't have to get over him."Haley stepped back a little so she could look at Brooke, "Just forgive him."

"But to do that, you need to get over him a little bit, so you can really forgive him, not just hide the feelings because you want to be with him."

Brooke nodded.

"But you're right, that doesn't mean you can't see him at all. Because that seems to be impossible for you." Brooke laughed and smiled through her tears. Haley smiled back. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom," she said, "I'll see you in a minute."

* * *

Lucas came into the kitchen, to find Brooke in there, getting a drink. It was quite dark, and the room quiet. 

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she gave him a weak smile.

He got some juice out of the fridge and poured himself a glass, then stood facing her. "So how was it?" he asked.

She bit her lip, "Do you really want to know?"

He paused, then shook his head. There was silence for a second and then he asked, "Did he kiss you?"

She shook her head, "Only on the cheek."He digested this information and she looked at him. He caught her eye and looked down.

It was quiet for a few minutes, both of them just sipping their drinks. She finished hers and set it down on the counter. He sighed and set his down too, "Come here," he said.She approached him and wordlessly wrapped her arms round him, leaning her head on his chest. He kissed her hair and held her tightly. "It's going to be okay," he whispered, and she nodded against his chest.

They broke apart and went back into the living room, to watch the rest of the movie.

* * *

_Firstly thank you so much for all the reviews! Quite a few people expressed wishes for Brooke and Lucas to get back together, which I can't say was a suprise. It's going to be a little while though but please stick with me because hopefully your enjoying the angsty stuff, if not, just hang in there! Please review with your thoughts etc._


	15. Chapter 15

_As always thanks for all the reviews! It may not seem like but every chapter is a step closer to the BL, so hang in there and enjoy the ride! (by the way, this chapter takes place about a week after the last one)_

"Hey man," Kenny greeted Josh as they came into basketball practice.

"Hey."

"Wo you look pissed off, what's up?"

Josh hesitated, then shook his head, "It's nothing."

Kenny shrugged, "Okay."

"It's just…Brooke."

Kenny rolled his eyes, he knew it would be something to do with her. "I warned you not to get involved man. Is she not living up to your expectations?" he joked.

"No. She's great…most of the time. Except when Lucas is around."

"I told you man! Never go out with a girl who's on the rebound. It's not worth it."

"She's always hanging out with him, and whenever we're together and she sees him, she goes all weird. And…you know that tattoo he has?" Josh moved a little closer to Kenny and lowered his voice.

"On his shoulder?"

"Yeah. Turns out…she's got one too."

"Seriously? Where?" Kenny asked eagerly.

"Kind of on her hip," Josh muttered, "And it's exactly the same."

"So you guys have done it then?" Kenny asked.

Josh gave him a look, "No. We sort of almost did, I saw it then."

"And freaked out?"

"No! I didn't realise till later where I'd seen it before. No, she freaked out."

"Really?"

"Well suddenly she 'wasn't in the mood'. I don't know man…I really like her, I just don't know if I can handle this."

"Well just give her a little time, she'll get over it. Besides, it's gotta be worth it, it's Brooke Davis!"

Josh hit his friend, but smiled, "Yeah, I guess."

* * *

"Okay Peyt I've really got to talk to you." Brooke burst into her friends room one evening looking a little frantic. 

"Okay…" Peyton sat up, "What's up?"

"I'm so screwed up. I don't know what to do about Josh and Lucas and…_everything's_ so screwed up!"

"Okay, calm down Brooke." Peytonchuckled."Take me through it slowly."

Brooke took a deep breath and sat down on Peyton's bed. "Okay well…things were kind of going alright with Josh. Our second date was better than the first. I didn't think about Lucas as much which is always a good sign. But then…the other day he came round and we were talking and stuff – "

"Wait, Josh or Lucas?" Peyton interrupted.

"Josh. So we were just hanging out and then we started making out…and it was fine. But then…I sort of freaked out a little bit."

Peyton groaned, "What did you do?"

"Nothing too awful…it was just getting a little serious and I couldn't handle it. I just said I wasn't really in the mood for…that. And he said he was okay about it but he left and, unsurprisingly,I think he wasa little annoyed."

Peyton nodded, "Right…well, he knows you just got out of a relationship, and if he understands, then it's not too bad."

Brooke considered this, "I guess…"

"So what's the problem with Lucas?"

"Oh…well there isn't anything specific just…"

"The bit about you being in love with him and dating someone else."

Brooke gave her a look, "Not helpful Peyt. And I'm not in love with him. Just…a little bit."

"Sorry. Well…maybe if you just talk to Josh, say you want to take things slowly, and then it might get easier."

"Yeah, that sounds sensible."

"You want to hear some good news?"

"Definitely!"

"Jake's coming back!"

"Oh my god! Peyt how could you not tell me! I've been sitting her for ages twittering on about my stupid problems and you've been sitting on this!"

"Well I didn't want to stop you mid rant!"

Brooke laughed, and hugged Peyton. "That's so fantastic, you must be so happy."

"Relieved, yeah. He called me just before you came and said he'd found a lawyer who'd told him he'd have a good chance of winning if he fought against Nicki, because he's just found out she was arrested once a while ago and they can use that in the case. He said he's tired of running, so he's coming back, and he's going to fight her."

Brooke looked a little worried, and Peyton noticed. "It's risky," she said, "But this lawyer sounds really great, and she's offered to take his case, so hopefully it'll all work out."

Brooke grinned, "Well then we have to celebrate! When's he coming back?"

"Next week."

"Okay, we've got like four days to plan a party then!"

* * *

Brooke approached Lucas at his locker the next day. 

"Hey Broody."

He turned to face her, smiling, "Hey Brooke."

"I need you're help with something…have you heard about Jake?"

"Yeah, Haley told me this morning, it's great!"

"Yeah, so we, that is, me and Peyton, are planning a little party for him. Except I kind of want it to be for Peyton too so I don't want her to have to do too much…and seeing as we planned such a great bash for Haley and Nathan that time...I was thinking maybe you could help?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Great. Okay well we're going to buy some stuff this weekend so do you wanna come?"

"Yeah! Saturday?"

"Sure. Great, okay, well I've gotta go, but I'll talk to you later. Thanks Lucas." She smiled at him before heading of to class.

* * *

"Alright! Shopping time." Brooke skipped into the mall, followed by Peyton and Lucas, who weren't quite as excited as she was. 

"Okay. Now we need food, drink, and decorations. So we can each be in charge of one thing."

"Can't we just…do it all together?" Lucas asked. He didn't really want to have to make any decisions.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Well yeah. But we're each _in charge_ of one thing. So say I'll do decorations, which we can get first, so for now I'll make the decisions. But then when it comes to food, say, Broody here will make them. And then Pey can do drink."

Peyton laughed, "Okay, sounds great, lets just go!"

They headed of to a party shop where Brooke bought a load of balloons and streamers.

"Not going for condom balloons this time?" Lucas asked, laughing.

"That was to make a point," Brooke said, "And I think Jake is already _very_ aware of the importance of protected sex."

Lucas nodded, she was right about that.

"Are you going to do some big art stuff?" Brooke asked Peyton.

"Yeah, I guess, I'm not sure what."

"I'm just thinking about colour schemes…what do you think I should go for?"

Peyton laughed, "Whatever you want Brooke! I'm sure I can adjust my art to fit accordingly."

They went to the food court next, where Brooke spent forever deciding what they'd need, until Lucas reminded her that technically it was his decision and then grabbed whatever was closest and looked good.

Brooke told him off for not taking it seriously at which point Peyton started laughing so hard they had to leave, and so Brooke gave up.

"Alright, just drink left," Peyton said, as they made their way back through the mall.

"Well at least that's easy," Lucas said.

Peyton gave him a look, "How is it easier? You don't need an ID to buy sausage rolls!"

"It's easy to chose!" he said. "But actually, you've got a point. How are we going to pull off this one, taskmaster?"

Brooke rolled her eyes at the name. "We're not buying alcohol here Broody, just mixers. If everyone can bring one bottle of something it should be fine, and Tim said he could get us a keg."

Lucas nodded, "Okay."

Peyton chose some drinks, and then they carried everything back to Brooke's car.

"Where are we having this by the way?" Lucas asked.

Brooke bit her lip and grinned, "Um…Haley and Nathan's."

Lucas gave her a look, "Do they know that yet?"

Peyton and Brooke exchanged a look, "They will soon...Anyway I'm totally sure they'll agree."

Lucas gave her a look.

"It's for Jake!" Brooke protested, "They wouldn't turn down this face!" she grabbed Peyton who pulled a sad face, as did Brooke.

Lucas laughed at the two of them. "Hales is gonna love this!"

They took everything to Brooke's house, and Lucas helped her unload it. Peyton had to go because she was making dinner for her dad who was coming back from a trip that night, so she said goodbye to the other two.

Lucas looked at Brooke after she'd gone. "What are you doing tonight?" he asked.

"Um…I have a date with Josh," she said to her shoes.

"Right," he nodded.

"But it's not for a while. You wanna hang out for a bit?"

"No, it's okay."

"I'll be bored on my own. We could just watch some TV or something."

He hesitated, "Don't you need to get ready or anything?" he asked.

"Oh you know me, it only takes me a few minutes."

Lucas laughed and Brooke smiled. They both knew it took her way longer than that.

"It's not for a while," Brooke said.

Lucas hesitated for another second, and then smiled, "Sure, okay."

Brooke smiled back, and they went into the living room.

* * *

"Leno is so not better than Letterman!" Brooke said, throwing a bit of popcorn at Lucas to emphasise her point. 

"He's funnier! And he gets better guests!"

"Nuh uh! Letterman has great people!"

"Just dumb actresses who don't have anything interesting to say."

Brooke laughed, "No way, you're delusional!"

"I'm delusional? This coming from the girl who's favourite movie is 'Centre Stage'!"

"Or 'Bring it On'" Brooke shrugged.

Lucas laughed, "That's even worse!" He saw Brooke's expression change and laughed again, "Sorry, you know I didn't mean that…"

"You'd better take that back right now or…" Brooke grabbed the bowl of popcorn and held it over his head.

"I take it back! It's a great movie, a really great example of fine cinema!"

Brooke paused, the bowl still hovering, and then put it down. "Better."

"I still can't believe you think Letterman is better."

"Leno's so sleazy!"

Their bickering was broken off by the doorbell ringing.

"Oh damn, what's the time?" Brooke asked.

"Um…seven," Lucas said, checking his watch.

"Damn!" Brooke leapt off the couch and answered the door, to find Josh standing there. "I'm so sorry I kind of lost track of time but I will be ready in two minutes!" she said quickly as soon as she saw him.

"Er, okay…" he was a little taken aback.

"Just come in, make yourself comfortable, I'll be down in a second." She raced upstairs and Josh came in, shutting the door behind him. Lucas came out of the living room and stopped when he saw him.

"Er, hi, I was just going to go…"

"Hi," Josh said, a little surprised.

"Just er…tell her I said bye."

"Yeah, sure." Josh stepped aside and Lucas opened the door.

"I'll…see you on Monday," he said, giving him an awkward wave before leaving.

"Yeah, bye." Josh watched him go, and then frowned. Brooke rushed downstairs a couple of minutes later.

"Sorry about that," she stopped in front of him, giving him a brief kiss.

"No problem."

She grabbed her coat and then looked around, "Did Lucas leave?"

"Er, yeah, he said to say bye."

Brooke looked up and caught his expression, "We were just watching some TV…" she said quickly.

"It's okay," Josh smiled.

Brooke nodded, "Okay…" she gave him another look and then shook herself, smiling once more, "Well lets go then!"

Lucas went to his mom's café after leaving Brooke's. He was thinking of heading down to the Rivercourt and getting Skills and Fergie together for a game but he wanted some coffee first.

"Hi, can I get you anything?" A girl greeted him cheerily from behind the counter.

"Yeah, I'll have a coffee please." He watched the girl as she got it ready, "Are you new?" he asked after a minute; he didn't recognise her.

"Um, yeah. I just started today. I'm just doing a couple of shifts a weekthough."

Lucas nodded, "Oh right, I didn't know my mom had hired someone else."

"You're mom?" The girl looked confused, "Oh right! You're Lucas."

"Yeah, hi."

"Hi, I'm Hannah…"

"Yeah I think you're in my English class," Lucas said.

Hanna paused thinking, "You sit at the back right? With Brooke Davis?"

Lucas laughed, "Um…usually."

Hannah watched him carefully, "Yeah I kinda heard you guys broke up."

"You did?"

"That's what you get for dating the head cheerleader!"

Lucas laughed, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Us little people get to break up in peace without the whole school knowing. Of course, it doesn't make it much better…"

Lucas nodded, "Sounds like you're speaking from experience."

Hanna chuckled darkly, "Yeah…"

They talked for a while, Lucas forgetting he'd got his coffee to take away as he drank it at the counter. Hannah was fun, she reminded him of Haley. It turned out she had broken up with her long term boyfriend recently, and they talked a little about it, although both of them were still at a stage where they weren't quite sure of their feelings. Lucas found it was nice to have someone to talk to who didn't know Brooke; who wouldn't just say 'they would work it out eventually'.

* * *

Lucas came into the café the next day and found Brooke working behind the counter. 

"Hey," she greeted him, smiling.

"Hey, listen, I'm sorry about yesterday. I should have left earlier I didn't mean to – "

"Don't be silly it wasn't your fault. Don't worry about it. What you could apologise for, is leaving without saying goodbye," she teased him.

Lucas laughed, "Well I didn't know how long you were going to be, and the atmosphere downstairs was a little…awkward…"

Brooke laughed, "Yeah I can imagine. You're still okay about this right - "

"Yeah," Lucas cut in, and Brooke nodded, "Okay."

"How's it going with you guys?" Lucas asked.

Brooke gave him a sideways look before answering, "Okay."

"Is he coming to Jake's?"

Brooke paused, "He doesn't have to…"

"No it's fine. I mean don't not ask him…" he trailed off, he had been going to say 'because on me' but Broke seemed to have got his meaning anyway.

"He'll probably be there," she said quietly after a minute.

Hanna came out of the kitchen and saw Lucas, "Hey," she said, a little shyly. Then she caught sight of who he was talking to and stopped, "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt…"

"No, it's fine," Brooke said, smiling at her, "I didn't know you'd met."

"Oh yeah, we met yesterday," Lucas said.

"Cool. Well I've got to go, coffee to serve," she grinned at Lucas and went off around the tables.

Hannah approached him a little cautiously. From what she had heard of Brooke she had assumed she would be a total bitch, but her first shift with her seemed to have proved that theory wrong. She wasn't quite sure how real Brooke's smile was though when she had heard she'd already met Lucas.

Lucas started talking to her however as she wiped the counter, so she figured he and Brooke were at a civil stage, and she hadn't just interrupted a blazing row or anything.

After a while Lucas got up, "I gotta go; I'm meeting my brother. But it was fun talking to you again." He smiled at Hannah, and she smiled back.

He was just turning to leave when she said, "Wait, um…would you maybe want to go out sometime?"

She saw Lucas' eyes flick very briefly to Brooke on the other side of the café, "It would be…totally nothing serious," Hannah said quickly.

Lucas paused, and then said, "Okay. Yeah, that would be nice."

Hannah smiled, "Great."

* * *

_You've read it, now **review **it!_

_Total downer of an ending I know, sorry. But the next bit should be up soon, and maybe just maybe things'll start looking up... ;)_


	16. Chapter 16

_Sorry for the wait, school work was getting on top of me but I've got my priorities straight now ;) Thanks so much for all the reviews, enjoy the new chapter...

* * *

_

That Sunday Brooke and Lucas went over to Nathan and Haley's apartment in the afternoon to start setting up for the party. Peyton was going to meet Jake at the bus station, where he would be arriving soon, and then was going to take him somewhere and keep him occupied for a while before it began. Brooke had helpfully suggested a few things she could do to keep him distracted, to which Peyton had simply rolled her eyes and said she was sure she would think of something.

"Alright," Brooke clapped her hands as they entered the apartment, "We've got about three hours, so get busy!"

Lucas rolled his eyes and went back to the car to start unloading the things they'd brought over from Brooke's.

"Nathan and Haley aren't even here yet so you don't have your little task force. Can you lay off the power trip till then?" he said laughing, as he came in carrying a load of decorations.

She glared at him, "Well you're here, so I can boss you around. You always did need a lot of instruction Broody!"

Lucas dropped the box on the couch and raised his eyebrows, "What are you implying?"

Brooke giggled at his expression, "Nothing!" she patted his chest and went past him to get a box herself.

Lucas glared after her, "instruction, yeah right," he muttered.

Haley and Nathan arrived soon after and joined them, helping out with the multitude of tasks Brooke found for them to do.

After a couple of hours, everything seemed to be almost ready, and Brooke collapsed on the sofa looking satisfied. Haley flopped down next to her. "I don't now how you talked us into this Brooke, how many people did you say were coming again?"

Brooke avoided her gaze, "Um...just Jake's close friends…and a couple of his other acquaintances…"

Haley rolled her eyes, "So like the entire class? I guess we can expect a pretty trashed apartment tomorrow then!"

"We'll help you clear up everything, I promise. Right Broody?" she caught Lucas' arm as he passed.

"Um…sure," he agreed. "Remind me why I agreed to help you with this again?" he asked, laughing.

"Because you never could say no to me," Brooke replied grinning.

* * *

People started arriving a little later, and the party was just getting going when Brooke saw Peyton's car pull up outside. 

"He's here, everybody hide!" she called, gesturing to the door. Everyone ducked behind various bits of furniture and Nathan was forced to tape over Tim's mouth to stop him from laughing (the guy never could hold his liquor).

The door opened and they heard Peyton come through, with Jake's voice following her, "Do you think we should have brought more popcorn?"

He came into the room and everyone jumped out, yelling "SURPRISE!"

Jake stood, shocked for a second, and then said, "So I guess lots of people wanted to come to movie night, huh?"

Peyton laughed and Jake pulled her to him, kissing her before being accosted by everyone wanting to greet him.

Haley and Brooke got to him first, both flinging their arms round him. "Hey guys," he laughed, the wind knocked out of him a little. He looked around the apartment, "So I'm guessing you had something to do with this?" he asked Brooke.

Brooke grinned, "Maybe a little."

"It's good to have you back man," Lucas said as he hugged him, clapping him on the back.

"It's good to be back," Jake said, grinning. "I heard…some stuff's happened while I've been away," he said to Lucas, glancing at Brooke who was now standing a little way away talking to Haley.

Lucas hesitated, "We'll talk about it later," he said finally, and Jake nodded.

More people kept arriving as the group rejoined the party having greeted Jake. Amongst the new arrivals was Josh, who said a civil "hey" to Lucas before finding Jake.

"You back for good now?" Josh asked.

"Yeah, hopefully."

"Good, the team needs you in D."

Jake smiled, and said, "Well I'll see you later, enjoy the party," before moving off, and trying to work out why Josh had been holding Brooke's hand. Things had certainly gotten a little out of whack while he'd been gone…

* * *

A little while later Brooke was dancing with Josh in a small crowd of people. Nathan had a pretty good stereo system and they'd hooked it up to some big speakers. Peyton was being DJ, although she got distracted every now and again by Jake so the music was pretty random. 

"Hey, who's that with Lucas?" Josh asked, inclining his head to the door.

Brooke looked up, giving him a weird look, but looked over anyway. "Oh, that's Hannah. They're going out."

"Really?"

"Yeah, why do you care?"

Josh shrugged it off, and Brooke continued to dance, but suddenly she wasn't in the mood. "I'm just going to get a drink," she said, heading off to the table where they were set up. Josh watched her go, frowning.

Brooke stood in a corner and watched Lucas talking with Hannah, while sipping her drink. She looked over and saw Josh dancing in a crowd of girls, having fun. She leant her head back against the wall; all of sudden she felt totally deflated.

"Brooke, there you are," Josh had approached her. She dragged her eyes off Lucas and gave him a small smile.

"Come on," he held out his hand. She downed her drink and took it.

* * *

"Tutorgirl, there you are! Come dance!" Brooke bounced into the kitchen to find Haley talking with Nathan and Jake. 

Haley rolled her eyes and grabbed Nathan's hand, "Fine, we're coming."

"Good," Brooke grinned, and turned to Jake, "You too daddy."

Jake laughed, "I'm not much of a dancer Brooke."

"That's no excuse! Come on, Peyt's around here somewhere," she looked around the room, "Or she was."

"She just went to the bathroom," Jake explained, watching Brooke carefully, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Brooke said, giving him a weird look, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Jake took her drink and sipped it, making a face, "Because you're practically drinking neat vodka!" He put the drink on the counter behind him, "What's up?"

"Nothing! So I mixed it a little strong…" she shrugged, "I'll go add more juice," she reached for her glass but Jake stopped her, "I think you've had enough for now."

"Whatever, are you coming to dance or what?"

Jake was still looking at with a thoughtful expression however, and didn't answer, "This wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that both Josh and Lucas are here would it?" From his conversation with Haley he had learnt that Brooke was now dating Josh, although something about the way Haley said made him think she wouldn't be for long.

"Um…what?"

"You drinking? I haven't seen you drunk in quite a while Brooke, Peyt said you'd turned over a new leaf; so something must have started this."

"Seriously Jake it's nothing, I just felt like a drink."

Jake shrugged, "Okay. But I still think you should go easy." He paused, then asked, "How's it going with Josh by the way?"

Brooke shrugged, "Fine." She really didn't feel like talking about it.

Jake nodded, he could see he wasn't going to get anything out of her, he figured fixing his friends' love lives would have to wait till tomorrow. "Okay," he said, pushing himself away from the counter he was leaning against, "I'll come dance."

"Great!" Brooke grinned, and dragged him out of the room.

* * *

Josh saw Hannah across the room and watched her for a minute. He hesitated and then went over to her, leaning against the wall next to her. 

"Hey," he said.

She looked up, "Hey." She was slightly surprised he was talking to her; they weren't really friends.

"So you're dating Lucas Scott?" he asked.

"Um, kind of. We're just hanging out really."

Josh nodded. "Can I ask you something?" he said after a minute. She nodded and he continued, "Does…are you…bothered by him and Brooke?"

Realisation dawned on Hannah as she understood why he was talking to her. "Listen, if you want advice about her then I really don't know anything. All I know is, me and Lucas are just having fun because he's really not ready for a serious relationship right now, at least, not with me." 'Or anyone other than Brooke,' she thought.

"And that's fine, because I'm not either…but if I was looking for something more serious I don't think I would be with him right now."

She watched Josh's reactions and sighed, "Look I can't speak for Brooke…but judging on what I've seen of the two of them together, I don't think you want to get in the middle of that. And if you want to be with her…then you might have a problem on your hands."

Josh paused, and then shrugged, "Whatever. Like you said, you can't speak for Brooke." He went off, and Hannah watched him go, shaking her head slightly.

* * *

Eventually everyone else left, and just Peyton, Jake, Nathan, Haley, Brooke and Lucas were left in the apartment. Hannah had said goodnight to Lucas a while ago, and Josh, after trying to persuade Brooke to come with him, had left with some guys from the team. 

Brooke was a little the worse for wear. Although Jake had warned Lucas to keep an eye on her, she seemed to have managed to get drinks into her hand as quickly as he could remove them.

The old familiar feeling was slipping over her, and she began to give in to it, finally collapsing on Nathan's sofa muttering, "I'm just going to sleep for a minute."

Jake and Lucas had been clearing cups away, and looked over at her. Jake noticed Lucas' eyes linger for a second longer, and caught his eye when he looked away.

"She'll be okay tomorrow," he said.

"Yeah," Lucas murmured, "I hope so."

Haley came in from the kitchen, "Oh my god I'm so tired," she said, sitting down heavily in an armchair.

"You should go to bed Hales," Lucas said, "We can finish up here."

"Really? You don't have to finish if you get tired, we can do it tomorrow."

Lucas nodded, "We can do most of it. Nathan!" he called to his brother who stuck his head round the door, "take you're wife to bed."

Nathan grinned, coming over to the chair and pulling Haley up, "Come one babe."

She leant against him and they stood looking round the room.

"I guess Brooke can just sleep it off there," Nathan said.

"I can take her home," Lucas offered. They all looked at him, and he shrugged, "I mean…it's on my way…"

They rolled their eyes at his excuses, "Whatever man," Nathan said laughing, "But you're right I'm sure she'd prefer to wake up in her bed than on our couch."

Peyton came in and came over to Jake. He wrapped an arm round her waist and she leant her head on his shoulder.

"Well we're going to go to bed," Nathan said, "Just leave whatever you want guys, we'll do the rest tomorrow." They went off to their bedroom.

"Can you take me home?" Peyton mumbled sleepily to Jake.

"Yeah sure," he replied, smiling down at her, "I'm just going to finish up here with Lucas and then I'll drive you. Or you can go now if you want and I'll meet you later. Are you okay to drive?"

"Yeah I didn't drink much, unlike some people," Peyton said, looking over at Brooke with a sad expression. "But I'm too tired to drive, I'll just wait."

"Okay, well, we won't be long."

Peyton flopped down in the chair Haley had vacated and in minutes was asleep.

Jake and Lucas continued to clear up, and for a few minutes the only sounds were the scrunching up of old cups and Brooke and Peyton's heavy breathing; then Jake broke the silence, "So what happened man? With you and Brooke?"

Lucas looked over at him, his hand hovering over an empty bottle. He sighed and picked it up, throwing it into a bin bag with a little more force than was necessary.

"The past caught up with us," he said.

Jake waited for him to continue, knowing it would all come out in time.

"I guess she never really got over…everything that happened before. When you left I went to Peyton's to see how she was…and Brooke found me there and freaked a little." He caught Jake's expression, and said quickly, "We weren't doing anything, I would never do that to you or Brooke, she just jumped to the wrong - "

"No I know you wouldn't," Jake interrupted, "I didn't think you had, I was just frowning because I thought she trusted both of you again."

"She does," Lucas said. "She does trust us, she just…hasn't quite gotten past everything. Anyway…she came to talk to me about it all and said she just needed some time." Lucas frowned at the floor, and started taking decorations of the walls.

Jake watched him, nodding slowly. "Well I guess it'll be okay then."

Lucas was silent, and then whispered, more to himself than Jake, "Yeah, I hope so."

* * *

Eventually Jake and Lucas got too tired to carry on. Jake woke up Peyton who insisted on being carried to the car, and they both said goodnight to Lucas and left. 

Lucas looked around the now almost empty apartment, until his eyes came to rest on the girl still asleep on the sofa. He approached her, crouching down by one end and watching her for a second. Finally he stood up and gently lifted her, smiling slightly as he felt her arms wrap loosely round his neck.

He carried her to his car and laid her on the back seat, before driving to her house. He found the spare key and carried her upstairs, her head lolling against his shoulder.

Once he'd managed to open the door to her room while still holding her, Lucas laid Brooke down on the bed and slipped off her shoes. He pulled the covers over her and sat down, leaning on his hand that was resting on the bed on the other side of her. With his other hand he brushed a few strands of hair from her face and she shifted slightly in her sleep.

He watched her sleeping, the low light casting shadows across her face, he expression peaceful. He withdrew his hand a little and it brushed hers that was lying by her side. Her fingers closed gently around his and he smiled, caressing her thumb lightly as he continued to watch her.

He wanted more than anything to stay with her, but he knew he should get home. And anyway, it would be awkward if she found him rather than Josh there in the morning.

Reluctantly withdrawing his hand, he leaned down and gave her forehead a lingering kiss before standing up. He stopped at the door and looked back at her, and small smile on his face, before leaving and closing it behind him.

* * *

Brooke woke up the next morning with a headache. 'God now I remember why I stopped getting slammered every weekend' she muttered. Bits of the night before started coming back to her, and she looked around her and found she was in her own bed, alone. She thanked god she hadn't done anything stupid. She didn't remember coming home though, and she doubted that the others would have let her drive; which meant someone must have dropped her off. 

Figuring it was probably Josh she made a mental note to thank him at school and started to get ready.

When she arrived Josh was waiting for her at her locker.

"Hey," he greeted her with a kiss.

"Hey."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you seemed a little out of it when I left yesterday. Did you stay at Haley and Nathan's?"

Brooke paused, taking this in, "Um…no. I went home. When did you leave?"

"You don't remember? I asked if you wanted to come."

"Oh right…yeah, I remember now. Sorry, I was a little - "

"It's no problem." Josh was used to dating girls who were wasted half the time, he was almost relieved Brooke seemed to reverting back to her old ways.

"Well, I'll see you later," Brooke said, opening her locker to start getting some books out.

"Yeah, bye."

Brooke got out her books and thought. If Josh hadn't taken her home then who had? Suddenly she spotted someone at the other end of the corridor and it hit her. _Of course_.

"Mouth!"

Mouth turned around to find Brooke hurrying towards him, "Hey Brooke." He smiled at her.

"Did you take me home last night?" she asked.

"Um…no. I thought you stayed at Nathan and Haley's."

"Oh," Brooke paused, "Sorry, I just thought, after that time at Tric…ok, well I'll see you later then." She smiled at him and headed of for class, now very intrigued.

"Bye," he said, looking after her with a slightly worried expression. Brooke hadn't been that drunk in a while, and he had a feeling he knew why…

Brooke went into her first period class and sat down, and was greeted a minute later by Peyton who took the seat next to her.

"So how are you feeling?" Peyton asked.

"Not too bad."

"Did Lucas make you take a load of advil?"

Brooke looked at her, "Lucas?"

"Yeah, was he not there this morning?"

"Wait…Lucas took me home?"

"Yeah, who did you think it was?"

Brooke shook her head, "Um…no one. Er, no he wasn't there this morning."

"Oh, well he probably thought you'd be okay on your own."

Brooke nodded slowly, and then their teacher came in so they had to stop talking. The lesson was pretty boring and they spent most of it writing notes about the party, but all the while Brooke was thinking about Lucas. She couldn't believe he had had to take her home…it was bad enough that she had gotten that drunk. But then again, she was glad it had been him rather than anyone else.

When the lesson ended Brooke hurried out and went in search of Lucas. She caught sight of him just outside and approached him.

"Hey," he said, when he saw her coming.

She didn't answer but pulled him into a hug. "Thank you," she whispered into his shoulder.

He smiled, and pulled back to look at her, "No problem."

"I'm sorry," she said, looking down, "I've been trying not to…do that anymore. I guess last night I just wanted to…" she trailed off and shrugged, not sure what she wanted to say.

"Yeah," he nodded. There had been times last night when he'd just wanted to get away from it all too.

* * *

The week passed. Brooke was almost glad to be in school; it meant she didn't have to think about Josh and Hannah and Lucas as much, although she thought about him anyway. She could just hang out with him though without the whole mess surrounding them preying on her mind. 

Now it was Friday, which meant one thing: game night.

The team were all excited to have Jake back, and after a lot of begging from Lucas, Nathan and the others, Whitey agreed to let him play in the game.

It was an important match, against the Scottsville Dragons, a team they always had a tough time with, and so the players were feeling the pressure. Nathan, although he no longer had Dan breathing down his neck, still had his own standards to meet and so was practising hard to make sure they won.

"Oh my god, I swear if I hear him analyse their defence one more time I'm going to kick him out of the house!" Haley said to Peyton and Brooke, as she sat down with her tray at lunch. Nathan was walking behind her with Lucas, talking about a certain move some player or other on the Dragons liked to do.

Brooke laughed, "It'll all be over tomorrow Hales, and then he'll be back to just talking about you the whole time!"

Haley smiled, "I cannot wait!"

The guys sat down, still talking, and Jake came and joined them, and was immediately asked his opinion on the best way to dodge this particular move.

The girls all rolled their eyes at one another, and tried to have their own conversation, but soon the guys were moving salt shakers around the table to show each other moves, and were all talking over each other so the girls couldn't even hear themselves think.

"Okay that is it!" Haley said eventually, "Nathan if you do not shut up right now I'm cutting you off!"

Nathan looked at her, "From what?"

Haley gave him a look.

"Oh." He mimed zipping his lips shut.

"Nice one Hales, same goes for you too Jake," Peyton said.

"Am I still allowed to talk?" Lucas asked, and Brooke rolled her eyes, "Not if you know what's good for you."

"Fine." The guys all grumbled and stayed quiet.

"Now Tigger," Haley turned to Brooke with a calm voice, "Carry on telling me about your new shoes."

The guys all groaned.

* * *

"Hey Hannah," Lucas approached her after school, on his way to the locker rooms. 

"Hey!"

He kissed her briefly and she walked with him, "Are you coming to the game?" he asked.

"I'm really sorry I can't. I have to babysit my brother. But I'm sure you'll be great, and anyway, you've got all those cheerleaders cheering for you I figure you don't need me too!" They laughed, and then both caught sight of Brooke heading into the gym ahead of them, and a slightly awkward silence descended as Hannah remembered which cheerleader in particular would be cheering for him.

Lucas cleared his throat, "Okay. Well, er, I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see you then." She smiled and headed for her car.

The game was tight…very tight. The crowd were all on the edge of their seats and Haley was so tense she was sure any minute now she might have a heart attack. Quite apart from wanting the Ravens to win, she knew Nathan would be a total nightmare to live with if they didn't.

Mouth was sitting next to her, commentating as usual. "And it's Harrison of the Dragons with the ball, he's moving down the court, he passes to Oakley, and it's – oh – almost a great interception by Jagelski but Oakley just manages to get it. He's trying to get round the defence and…he has, it's a basket for the Dragons and they pull ahead a point!"

The crowd groaned, and the few supporters who had come from Scottsville cheered. Brooke shook her head, and she saw Peyton do the same next to her.

The game started again. The Ravens had the ball and were doing well. Lucas glanced over to the corner and caught Brooke's eye, she smiled and he felt his spirits lift very slightly.

Jake was looking for a pass and Lucas dodged round his player, getting open. He caught the ball and turned towards the goal.

"Come on Luke," Brooke whispered.

Lucas was double-teamed and passed to Nathan on the right, who dodged round one defence heading for the basket before he was met by another. He turned, seeing Lucas a few feet behind him to the left, and passed him the ball. Lucas caught a brief glimpse of the clock reading 00:00:05 before he caught the ball and flicked it out of his fingers once more.

It arced towards the basket and slipped straight through.

The crowd erupted as the buzzer went, signalling the end of the fourth quarter. Whitey jumped up, punching his fist in the air and Haley breathed a huge sigh of relief. The cheerleaders streamed onto the court and Lucas felt arms fling around his neck.

He smiled into her hair, feeling happier than he had in weeks.

"That was amazing Broody!" Brooke said, still hugging him.

"Thanks Brooke."

* * *

_**Please review**, and I'll try and have the next bit up soon!_


	17. Chapter 17

_Thanks so much for all the reviews!_

_Some people are getting a little annoyed with Brooke and her actions. I can totally understand why, but just remember she had her heart broken really badly, and she doesn't want to get hurt again, so she's got a lot of feelings to deal with. Just bear with her (and me)! I hope I can balance being realistic without losing too much BL.

* * *

_

"Anyway, I don't see why it's such a big deal," Brooke said, coming out of her bathroom. Peyton was trying on a top in front of her mirror; it was Saturday morning and they were about to go out.

Peyton pulled of the top and threw it back on Brooke's bed, giving her a look, "It's a big deal because when you're boyfriend wins a basketball game, you should hug him first. Not your ex."

"But Lucas made the game winning shot! So I was just…saying well done."

Peyton rolled her eyes, "You would have found it weird if I'd hugged him and not Jake though."

"Whatever, all I'm saying is Josh didn't need to get all crabby about it."

"I thought you said he didn't make too big a fuss?"

"Well not really, but he was kinda cold all evening, I could totally tell he was pissed off."

Peyton nodded absently and continued looking through Brooke's closet. She pulled out another top and turned round, and saw that Brooke was now sitting on the edge of her bed chewing her nail.

"What's up?"

Brooke looked up. "Pey…am I a horrible person?"

Peyton sighed, "No sweetie. You're just confused." She came and sat down next to her, and wrapped an arm round her shoulders.

"I'm just hurting Josh…and Lucas, and all because I can't figure out my feelings?"

"Brooke you shouldn't feel pressured to make anyone happy, you should do what you want. Just maybe…" she hesitated, "If you're going to be with Josh then you need to stop thinking about Lucas."

Brooke nodded slowly, "You're right…Ugh!" she collapsed back on the bed, "I need to think more. Seems like I've been doing a lot of that recently."

"Makes a change," Peyton joked, and Brooke glared at her. Then she smiled and sat up, "But today is our day, and I'm not going to spend the whole thing worrying about my messed up love life."

Peyton smiled, "That's my girl. Come on, you ready?"

"Yup, lets go."

Brooke and Peyton were going to spend the morning at the mall, shopping, because Brooke had complained that in the past week Jake had been hogging her best friend. Although he was of course perfectly justified in doing this as Brooke had had her to herself for weeks while he'd been away, Peyton had agreed to save Saturday for a Brooke day.

"What do you think of this?" Peyton held up a black lacy bra for Brooke's inspection.

"Okay, what is going on? Did we just slip into some kind of reverse universe? First, I'm the one struggling to work out my tortured love-life and then you're shopping for lingerie without me even asking you too! Wow…think really have changed around here P.Sawyer."

Peyton laughed and Brooke smiled. "I want to get something new…for Jake," Peyton explained.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "But of course. Go put it on and we'll see," she said, shoving Peyton into a changing room.

Brooke leant against the opposite wall while she waited. Her eyes wandered aimlessly across a rack of other bras and stopped on a dark red lacy one. Before she could stop herself, the thought had popped into her head: 'Lucas would like that'. She had one a bit like it, and could remember exactly his smile when he'd first seen it, his little moan of approval, and his voice when he'd murmured "very sexy."

Her thoughts were broken off as Peyton pulled open the curtain to her dressing room. Brooke blinked and shook herself, but Peyton didn't seem to notice. "So, what do you think?" she asked.

Brooke smiled, "Very you. Jake will love it."

"You think?" Peyton looked at herself in the mirror, tugging on her lip with her teeth.

"Definitely."

Peyton allowed herself a small smile, "Cool." She turned to Brooke, "Are you going to get anything?"

Brooke hesitated, "Um…yeah." She reached out for the red bra, "Let me just try this on."

Peyton looked at it briefly, "Kay, cool. Don't you have one a little like that?"

"A little. But you can never have too many, right?" She grinned before slipping into the changing room.

She tried on the bra, knowing it would fit, and checked her appearance. Even she had to admit she looked hot. But still it didn't feel right. She crossed her arms over her chest and leant against the wall.

Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair. She felt so conflicted inside herself; whenever she allowed her thoughts to stray only one picture came to her; one voice floated though her mind; one name filled her heart: Lucas. So why was she still confused?

She unclipped the bra and changed back into her own. Slipping on her top once more she looked in the mirror again. Her eyes glistened and she blinked once or twice before leaving changing room.

"Are you gonna get it?" Peyton asked.

Brooke looked at it, and then smiled, "Yeah."

"Great!"

They made their way to the counter and bought them, leaving the boutique with matching bags. Peyton glanced over at Brooke, "You okay?"

Brooke leant her head on Peyton shoulder, "Yeah."

Peyton wrapped an arm round her, and kissed the top of her head, "Good."

They walked towards the exit; they were going to grab some lunch somewhere else. Peyton stopped to get a CD as they passed a record store, but Brooke waited outside, looking through the window of a clothes shop next door.

She was just admiring a dark blue dress when a reflection caught her eye; the messy blonde head was very familiar…

She turned round and saw that sure enough it was Lucas. She watched him head towards one of the little cafes in the mall, and stop at one of the tables outside, where…Hannah was sitting.

Brooke felt her throat tighten as Hannah stood up to kiss him briefly in greeting. He sat down with her and picked up a menu, and Brooke turned round quickly, not wanting him to see her.

She had no problem with Hannah really; she seemed perfectly sweet whenever they had a shift together at the café…it was just…she wasn't quite ready to see Lucas kissing other girls. In fact, she wasn't sure she would ever be ready…

"Hey, ready to go?" Peyton came out of the store carrying a bag.

"Um…yeah. Lets go." Brooke linked her arm through Peyton's and left, sparing one glass over her shoulder at Lucas before they were out of the mall.

* * *

Peyton was worried about Brooke. It was late Saturday afternoon, and she had just come home, having departed from Brooke's house after they'd had lunch and hung out a little more. Now she was lying on her bed; thinking. 

Brooke came across as being bubbly and fun; and she was. But obviously, nobody could be in a good mood the whole time, and so sometimes Brooke would get down but people wouldn't notice because they were so used to her being an upbeat, confident person that they didn't realise sometimes she hurt too.

Peyton noticed though, and most of the time, Brooke let her in, and when she was upset she let Peyton took care of her and helped her. But recently, she had been shutting her out. Peyton knew she was hurting and confused about Lucas and Josh, but she wouldn't talk about it. Apart from the few moments such as the time that morning, Peyton was sure she was trying to hide it.

She didn't want her to hide it though, she just wanted to be able to help her. Peyton picked up the phone and called Haley, maybe she could help.

Haley heard the phone ring, and called to Nathan, "Nate can you get that? I'm doing homework."

"I'm in the middle of a game!"

"Well that's why they made a pause button!"

She heard Nathan make a disgruntled sound and the ringing stopped. She smiled to herself, and continued typing.

"Hello?"

"Hey Nate, It's Peyton. Is Haley there?"

"Yeah sure, she's doing homework though and I think she's finding it a little confusing so can I get her to call you back? You know how she really needs to concentrate to understand that math stuff," he joked.

"Give me that," Haley came up behind him and took the phone, shaking her head, "I am not finding it confusing I just didn't want to answer the phone cause it might not have been for me," she glared at her husband who laughed. "Anyway, what's up Peyt?"

"I'm just calling cause I was thinking about Brooke…and I was wondering if we should maybe do something."

"About her and Lucas?" Haley asked, guessing what she was worrying about.

"Yeah…Hales, I don't know what to do. When she talks about it I never know whether to tell her to get on with it and go back to him already, or just to be sympathetic and let her figure it out on her own."

"We need to let her figure this out on her own Peyton. She has to get over everything that happened before, otherwise it'll always be in the back of her mind, and he'll always be wondering if she's really forgiven him."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I just want to see her to be happy so much…and I guess, when she goes back to him…it'll mean she's forgiven me too," Peyton said quietly.

Haley was saddened by her tone, "Peyt, she has forgiven you. You're her best friend, and she knows you would never risk your friendship again. Just be there for her right now, for whatever she needs, but don't push her. I know you want to just put all this behind you, and she does too, she's just taking a little time."

Peyton nodded, and Haley heard her sniff slightly, "Yeah. Thanks Hales."

"No problem. Now how about we have a girl's night tonight? Maybe you guys can extend your Peyton-Brooke day to a Haley evening too."

Peyton laughed, "Yeah, sounds great. How about you come over here in about an hour, I'll call Brooke."

Haley smiled, "Great. See you then."

* * *

"What do you think goes on in guy's heads?" Brooke asked. The three of them were sitting on the floor in Peyton's living room. Brooke was leaning against the edge of the couch, a pot of Ben&Jerry's resting on her stomach and a spoon in her hand. "I mean, do you think they're like us at all? Or is there something totally different happening in there?" 

Peyton chuckled, "I don't know. They're pretty different; I can't exactly see Jake, Nathan and Lucas sitting round in their boxers eating ice cream and talking about all of us."

Haley burst out laughing at the thought.

"Hales! You wrecked it. I had a nice mental image going there!" Brooke exclaimed, causing Haley to laugh more.

"But seriously," Peyton said, "I guess they can't be too different."

Brooke nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess."

"Speaking of guys," Haley said tentatively, "How are you doing about…everything?"

"You mean Lucas?" Brooke asked bluntly.

"Well…yeah."

Brooke shrugged, "I've kind of given up thinking about it. Seeing as every time I do I drive myself crazy. I don't know what to do anymore."

Haley and Peyton looked at each other hopelessly.

"Is there any way we can help?"

Brooke smiled, "Thanks guys, but I don't think so. I think I'm going to talk to Josh, try and work things out. Maybe if I stick to my original plan it'll get easier."

"Yeah," Haley said comfortingly, "I'm sure it will." She glanced at Peyton again, who looked down. In fact, she wasn't sure at all.

On Sunday morning Peyton was awoken by a knocking on the door. Disentangling herself from a pile of blankets she stood up and stretched, traipsing out into the hall and opening the door.

Jake, Nathan and Lucas came through, greeting her with cheery 'good mornings' while she shielded her eyes from the bright light now flooding through the door.

"Wow, you guys really trashed this place," Jake said, as he came into the living room. The floor was covered in pillows and duvets, and there were pieces of popcorn everywhere.

"Well since you're here you could help us clear up," Peyton said, smiling sweetly.

"Um, yeah, I'm gonna be leaving now," Lucas said, chuckling, and Nathan made to follow him.

"Nate?" Haley had woken up and was looking up at the guys.

"Morning baby," Nathan said, turning back from the door and sitting on the couch by Haley. Lucas rolled his eyes but came back too, sitting down on the couch as well. Jake and Peyton flopped down in one of the big chairs and they all started talking.

A groan came from one corner, "Could you guys keep it down? I'm trying to sleep over here," Brooke voice came from beneath a pillow.

"Brooke it's like ten thirty! Get up already," Nathan said.

Brooke pushed herself up on her elbows and glared at Nathan, "It's common courtesy to let people sleep till at least eleven when they've had a sleepover the night before. I guess guys were never taught these rules."

Nathan laughed, "No I think we missed that class. Must have been when they gave you guys the whole 'you'll be experiencing some changes with your body' bit."

Brooke laughed despite herself and sat up, running a hand through her hair to tame it. "So what are you guys doing here anyway?" she asked.

"I don't know," Nathan said, "Jake was coming over and we just decided to tag along."

"See this is what happens when we're not around," Haley said, laughing, "You just turn into a bunch of sheep!"

Peyton laughed and Nathan gave her a look.

"So what are we going to do today?" Jake asked, and they started discussing it. While they were talking Brooke stood up, wrapping a comforter round herself and going over to the couch, where she sat against the edge of it, leaning against Lucas' legs. He rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently, and she leant her head against her head against his knee.

"What are you doing today?" he asked her after a minute, while the others were arguing between various movies that were showing.

"Um…I think I'm seeing Josh."

Lucas nodded, "Right."

She glanced up at him and her met her eye, giving her a tight smile. Brooke leant her head back against his knee, suddenly feeling less sure of her decision.

* * *

But in the end Brooke stuck to her decision. She was going to go and see Josh, and talk to him. He deserved better than a half-hearted girlfriend, so she was going to try better. She had been the one to decide that she and Lucas needed some time apart, so she shouldn't be thinking about him. She was going to do this properly. 

And that was how she and Josh had ended up watching a movie on her couch, with his arm round her, sharing a bowl of popcorn. Josh had waved away her apologies, saying he understood it was hard to let go, and he was glad she was ready to be with him. Brooke had ignored the large knot that twisted in her stomach as he said these words.

"Do you think Sean William Scott had to have special training for this?" Josh asked, laughing, as the actor danced around on screen in American Pie 3.

Brooke laughed, nodding, "Probably for weeks!"

Josh wrapped his arms round her a little tighter, and ran his fingers along her arm, rubbing it lightly.

"Hey what's this?" he asked.

Brooke looked down, "What?"

His fingers slipped between her wrist and her charm bracelet. "This."

"My charm bracelet, you've seen it before."

"Yeah, I know, but what's this?" he was pointing to one charm in particular: the silver heart.

"Um…it's just one of my charms."

"With an L on it?"

"Lucas gave it to me," she said, her voice almost inaudible.

"Why do you still wear it?"

Brooke shrugged, trying to look like it was no big deal, "I don't know. I never take stuff off."

Josh stood up, forcing Brooke to stand up too. The movie continued playing in the background.

"Why is it such a big deal?" Brooke asked.

"Because you still wear a bracelet with your boyfriends initials on it! Look Brooke, I like you, I really do. But whenever I'm with you it's like everything's connected to Lucas! Tattoos, bracelets, nicknames…you say you guys are over but your obviously not! I can't deal with this stuff anymore!"

"Well then you'll just have to find yourself a virgin who's never had a boyfriend! Because everyone's got history Josh!" Brooke said, her voice rising.

"If all he is to you is an ex-boyfriend, then prove it. Don't see him anymore."

"What?" Brooke was stunned.

"If he's just like any other ex-boyfriend then it shouldn't be too much of a problem not to see him," Josh said more calmly, "I don't want you to see him anymore."

"Josh that's ridiculous, he's not just my ex-boyfriend, he's my friend."

"But he's not just a friend is he?"

Brooke didn't know what to say. "You can't make me chose between you and Lucas."

Josh was silent, looking at her, "You've already chosen."

He turned and left. As he'd expected, she didn't go after him.

* * *

Brooke wandered onto the Rivercourt, where Lucas was shooting hoops. It was Sunday evening and the light was beginning to fade. 

"Hey," he said, catching the ball and tucking it under his arm.

She smiled in reply, and went and sat on the picnic table.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much. Don't let me stop you…I was just thinking about some stuff and…wound up here."

"It can do that to you, this place. I always find myself coming here subconsciously when I need to think."

She nodded, looking at the ground. He came over and sat next to her, setting the ball down on the table.

"So you wanna talk about anything?" he asked.

She hesitated, and then said, "Josh and I broke up."

His eyes widened very slightly, "Oh."

Brooke stole a glance at him, and then looked down again.

There was silence for a second and then Lucas asked, "So what happened?"

Brooke looked up and shrugged, "It was never going to last Luke. I was kidding myself; there's no way I should be dating right now."

Lucas digested this information and asked, "So you broke up with him?"

"Um…well he left…I didn't go after him. He saw my bracelet and I guess it was all just too much."

"Your bracelet?"

"The charm."

"Oh," Lucas nodded once. "Right…I'm sorry."

Brooke gave a low chuckle, "No you're not."

Lucas smiled, "Fine, I'm not. But I would be if I thought you were upset about it."

The corners of Brooke's lips twitched.

"See, you're okay."

She smiled properly, "Yeah, I'm okay."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and Brooke sighed and leant her head on Lucas' shoulder. Lucas kissed the top of it and wrapped an arm round her. He looked across the court, thinking of all the times they'd sat there together in the last year, and remembering the day when he'd kissed her there and she'd said 'okay'.

He was broken out of his reverie by Brooke burying her head in his shoulder, and he looked down at her to see tears running down her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice gentle.

She shook her head and buried it further into his shoulder, not answering.

"Brooke, come on, talk to me."

She looked up at him, "I can't talk to you," she said, her eyes sad, "You're the one person I can't talk to about this and the one person I want to. I've got…all these…stupid feelings," her voice broke as she choked on the works, "and I can't talk to you about them because…they're all for you."

Lucas' heart broke to see her so torn up, and he wished he could just make it all go away. But he couldn't, so instead he just held her. Eventually her breathing evened out as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"What are we going to do Broody?" she whispered.

He tiled her chin up to look at her, and wiped away a tear with his thumb. He held her gaze for a minute and then looked away, shaking his head, "I don't know."

* * *

_PLEASE REVIEW! And I'll try and get the next chapter up soon, I have a feeling you guys are going to like it…_


	18. Chapter 18

_So sorry that this update has taken a while but I hope it'll be worth it! I don't feel it needs much introduction, except to say Thank you to all my lovely reviewers (and to sayjust suspend disbelief about Leanne Rimes playing at Tric…I mean they did get the Wreckers!) so with no further ado…_

"So they broke up?" Nathan was sitting on Lucas' swivel chair in his room, swivelling round on it aimlessly. It was Monday morning before school and Haley had an early morning tutoring class so Nathan was getting a lift from Lucas. Lucas had just told him what had happened with Brooke the night before.

"Yeah."

Nathan nodded slowly, and continued turning round on the chair. Lucas waited patiently for him to say something.

Finally he said, "So are you going to do anything?"

Lucas shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, it doesn't really change anything. Just because she's not with anyone else doesn't mean she wants to be with me."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "Let me get this straight. She breaks us with her boyfriend - "

"Well actually she said he broke up with her."

"Over you. Anyway; things are over with her boyfriend…and she goes to the one place you are like…80 of the time…where she pours her heart out to you before crying in your arms…and yet, you think she wants to be friends?"

Lucas sighed, "I've told you man, she doesn't know what she wants. She's confused, and I don't want to pressure her."

"Maybe she's just waiting for you to take the first step."

"Maybe, but I'm not taking that chance. I want things to be right this time…I want to be sure she's ready. So when she's ready, she'll do something."

Nathan shrugged, "I guess you know best man. Good luck till then though, the sexual tension was bad enough around you guys when you couldn't even do anything, it's going to be ten times worse now there's all that possibility hanging in the air." He chuckled.

Lucas gave a wry smile, and then it fell. "Except there's not possibility," he said, suddenly remembering, "Because I'm still with Hannah…"

Nathan nodded slowly, "Oh yeah…"

* * *

Lucas saw Hannah at her locker as he and Nathan came into school. He approached her, feeling a little uncomfortable, and greeted her with a brief kiss. 

"Hey," she said, "How was your day yesterday? I didn't see you at the café."

"Yeah, sorry. I had a load of work to do."

Hanna nodded, "Listen, I, er…heard that Brooke and Josh broke up."

"You did?"

"I wasn't sure if it was true…because, well, you know this place, it's probably not, I shouldn't have - "

"No it is. I just…didn't expect everyone to know yet."

"Yeah well…Josh hasn't exactly been keeping it a secret…Brooke might want to stay clear of him for a while." She laughed slightly. "Anyway…I wanted to talk to you about it."

Lucas nodded slowly, "Right, okay."

Hannah sighed and shut her locker, and they began to walk down the hall together.

"I don't want to be something that's keeping you from being with her," she started, but Lucas interrupted.

"You're not. It's Brooke's decision right now and she doesn't want to be with me."

"Well maybe that's because you're with me." She shook her head slightly, "Anyway that's not the point. I mean…I don't want to be someone who's keeping you from the possibility of being with her. Your heart's with her at the moment…and I knew that, and that's fine. But I don't want you to feel like you can't want to be with her because you're with me. So I think it's best if maybe we're not together anymore."

Lucas stopped and looked at her.

She shrugged, "I know what it feels like to try to start a relationship again. There's no need to complicate it more than it already is."

Lucas nodded slowly. "Okay," he paused, and then added, "Thank you…for understanding."

She smiled, "No problem. I hope you guys can work it out," she said sincerely.

"I hope things work out for you too." He hugged her, and then she went to her class. Lucas watched her go, and then turned to continue up the corridor. A group of people passed along the walkway that cut across the end of it, and he saw Peyton and Brooke walking along it arm in arm.

Brooke laughed at something Peyton said, a radiant smile breaking across her features. His eyes followed her till she was out of sight, and he sighed, and small smile on his face as he went to his class.

* * *

The guys had basketball practice after school, and the girls were going to hang out at Brooke's because there was no cheerleading. 

"Huh, according to this, I'm very in fashion right now," Haley said, in a mildly interested voice.

"Really?" Peyton reached over from where she was sitting at Brooke's desk doodling to look at the magazine Haley was reading.

Brooke looked at Haley from her position next to her on her bed, "Yeah I guess you've got the whole pale orange thing going on."

"Whoever thought Haley James would be one to follow a trend," Peyton said.

"It wasn't intentional," Haley replied laughing, "And anyway, maybe Haley James-_Scott_ is really in with the latest fashions, I just don't know it yet."

Brooke gave her a look, "I don't think so."

"Hey!" Haley hit her playfully.

"Oh come on Hales, you're original! You shouldn't change! If you did you'd become…well me, and I'm already me enough for this group."

Peyton laughed, "Yeah I don't think we could take two Brookes!"

Haley smiled.

"Although," Brooke said, getting up of the bed, "I did find this awesome top which would look gorgeous on you when we go to Tric this Friday night."

"We're going to Tric?" Haley asked, "Who've you got Peyton?"

Peyton grinned, "Leanne Rimes is coming, it's gonna be awesome!"

"Wow, cool! Yeah we should definitely go. So lets see this top Tigger."

Brooke pulled it out of the closet and held it up.

"Nice…" Hale got up too and went over to Brooke, fingering the edge of the floaty halter-neck.

"Try it on."

Just then however the door opened and Nathan, Lucas and Jake came in.

"Jesus guys, you could knock! I was just about to change."

"Well don't let us stop you," Nathan said, grinning, and Haley glared at him. He came over and quietened her with a kiss.

"What are you guys doing here?" Brooke asked, not really minding the invasion of her bedroom but she was never one to be a pushover.

"Basketball finished," Jake said simply.

"So you had to come over?"

"Well you stole our girls so now you have to suffer the consequences."

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Fine, whatever," she said, chuckling.

"So what have you guys been doing?" Lucas asked, settling himself on Brooke's bed with his hands behind his head.

"Oh you know, the usual. Pillow fights, French kissing pillows…girly hanging out stuff." Peyton shrugged.

Lucas rolled his eyes and picked up the magazine Haley had been reading.

"Which Season Are You?" he read. "Brooke what is this crap?"

Brooke glared at him, "It's Teen People, it's not crap!" she said, sitting on the bed next to him and taking the magazine off him.

Nathan flopped down on Brooke's bed too, bringing Haley with him.

"Good thing you got your double bed back Brooke!" Haley said, resting on Lucas' legs.

"Nate get your feet off my bed!" Brooke said, shoving them off.

"Hey! Lucas has his on too!"

"Yeah well he's not wearing shoes…and his feet don't stink!"

Nathan raised an eyebrow, "You're asking for it now Davis." He grabbed her and tickled her, and she shoved him off laughing, "Tutorwife control your husband!"

Nathan continued to tickle her and she fell back against Lucas, still laughing. "Broody, be a man! Do something!"

"Nate get off her," Lucas said, chuckling as he wrapped an arm protectively around Brooke.

Nathan let her go, grinning, and returning to his position next to Haley.

Brooke stuck her tongue out at him and settled herself against Lucas' shoulder.

Jake and Peyton shook their heads at the others antics, and Peyton went back to her doodling. Jake was sitting on the edge of the desk and he glanced down at what she was drawing. He smiled as he saw the group of neat little sketches scattered across the page, all of Haley and Brooke in various positions.

The new sketch started to take shape, and Jake could make out clearly the shape of Lucas' head and shoulders, and the outline of Brooke's hair. Peyton's pencil moved quickly, and she filled in Brooke's features, perfected form years of drawing her friend.

Peyton glanced up and saw Jake looking, and grinned at him.

"Pity we don't have a camera," she whispered, and Jake chuckled.

Meanwhile over on the bed Nathan was now reading the magazine out loud, aggravating the girls with his comments.

"I mean, who cares about this stuff anyway?" he asked. "So your shoes don't match your bag, what's the big deal?"

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Like your stuff in Playboy is _so_ much more intelligent."

Nathan glared at her, and Haley chuckled, "That's a bit of a sore point at the moment. I cancelled his subscription," she explained.

"I read it for the articles!" Nathan complained, "And whatever you say Brooke, they are actually very intelligent. Luke, back me up here man."

"Sorry, can't help you, my mom would never let me get a subscription in the first place."

"And you'd want one?" Brooke asked pointedly, turning her head to look up at him.

"Of course not," he corrected himself slowly, and she gave him a look.

He lowered his voice, "I get along just fine with those photos you gave me."

"What!" Nathan and Haley both said simultaneously, having overheard him.

"Lucas! Is that 'never mentioning it again'!"

"I'm sorry, photos? Of what?" Nathan asked, grinning.

"We are _not_ talking about this," Brooke said firmly.

"Can we see them?"

"NO!"

"Have you got any copies in here?" Nathan persisted, getting up of the bed.

"Nathan!" Haley pulled him back down and he pouted, "I was just curious."

Haley rolled her eyes, "Your brother's ex? Seriously?"

Brooke laughed, "Don't worry Hales, I'm sure Luke's had many fantasies about you in his time."

"Brooke!"

"Ew!"

"What? Come on, you guys were friends since you were what, eight?"

"Exactly! She's like my sister."

Brooke laughed at Haley and Lucas' matching expressions of disgust, "Alright, maybe he hasn't."

"Can we please get off the topic of cross relationship fantasies, it's getting a little disturbing. Lets just say we all stick to our own girlfriends…" Jake said jokingly.

"Or ex," Peyton muttered, and Jake heard her and laughed.

"What?" Brooke asked.

"Nothing," Peyton said innocently, "I was just clearing my throat."

The others gave her a weird look, but ignored it.

"What am I lying on?" Haley said after a minute, shifting as she was uncomfortable. She felt a lump under the duvet, and pulled out a tattered brown stuffed toy.

"Aw it's Zephir!" Peyton said.

"Who?" Jake asked, but Peyton had already gone over to the bed in excitement.

"Brooke Davis has a teddy bear? Oh my god people at school would have a field day with that!"

"He's not a teddy bear he's a monkey!" Brooke corrected.

Nathan held it up by its arms and legs, looking at it, "Could have fooled me."

"He's very old."

"What did you say his name was again?" Jake asked.

"Zephir," Brooke said, "You know, the monkey from Barbar."

"Oh yeah…Jenny loves those books."

"Yeah, you should now that, dad," Peyton said, looking at him accusingly.

"There's so many names in those kids books; they're all called Bingo and whatsit, and moomintroll or whatever…it's hard to remember them all!"

The others laughed.

"I haven't seen this guy for ages!" Peyton said, taking the monkey off Nathan, who was still trying to work out where all its features were.

"Well he doesn't come out very often," Brooke said, reaching out for him. Peyton passed him over and Brooke touched his soft face. "You remember him, right?" she asked Lucas.

"Yeah, of course." Brooke laid the monkey on her stomach and rested her head against Lucas once more.

The others smiled briefly at their friends, and then Peyton and Jake sat down again, Peyton sitting on Jake's lap this time.

Nathan stretched out across the bed, lying the opposite way to Brooke and Lucas, and Haley rested her head on his stomach. He played with her hair, running his fingers through it, and they lay in silence for a little while.

"I think Haley's fallen asleep," Peyton murmured after a few minutes.

"I think I'm about to," Lucas said, with a low chuckle, "We'd better go soon, I've still got a paper to right for homework."

Brooke groaned as he started to sit up, and pushed him back down again, "A few more minutes," she mumbled.

He laughed, "Nuh uh, cause then you'll fall asleep and I won't be able to move."

She stuck her lip out a little, giving him a pleading look, "Please…I'm tired."

He rolled his eyes, "Fine, but you'd better not fall asleep."

"I won't," she said, her eyes already closing as she lay back down.

"We'd better go," Jake said, standing up and lifting Peyton up too, "I'd need to relieve my parents of Jenny. Do you want a ride home?" he asked Peyton.

She nodded and grabbed her jacket from a chair by the door. "Bye guys," she said, as they left.

The guys made an incomprehensible sound in reply and Nathan lifted his hand in a wave.

Jake chuckled and shut the door behind him, leaving with Peyton.

"Hales," Nathan whispered. "Babe wake up."

Haley let out a low groan, "I'm awake."

"We gotta go."

"Why?"

"Because we have homework to do and supper to cook."

Haley groaned again and sat up, "Fine, I'm up." She ran a hand through her hair, "Lets go."

They stood up too and said goodbye to Lucas, before making their way downstairs. Lucas looked down at Brooke when they had gone, who was now fast asleep, breathing deeply.

He started to get up but her eyes opened and she glared at him.

"I've gotta go," he said apologetically.

"Can't you do your paper later?"

"It's already later," he said, chuckling.

"What's it for."

"History."

"Mr. Millner likes me, I'll say it was my fault, he'll let you off."

"I wish that was true but you know it's not! He might let _you_ off it, but not me."

"Well how about you stay here and think about what you're gonna say, and I can sleep some more."

Lucas relented, seeing he was fighting a losing battle. So he'd have to right his paper that night, it was worth a couple of hours with Brooke.

"Why are you so tired anyway?" he asked, "Are you getting enough sleep?"

"Broody I'm fine, I'm just tired."

"Are you sure? Nothing's keeping you up?"

"No," Brooke said after a slight pause, "I'm fine."

Lucas hesitated for a minute but left it, kissing the top of her head before resting it back on the pillow.

* * *

They had all decided to meet and go to Tric together that Friday. The guys were picking up Peyton, Haley and Brooke, who were all getting ready at Peyton's. 

Nathan slammed the door the door of his car and they made there way up the path. They went straight in, not bothering to knock, and Jake called up the stairs. "You guys had better be ready."

They waited for a second, and then came the inevitable, "One minute!" They all rolled their eyes at each other and went into the living room to wait the additional fifteen minutes.

"Hey, Jake, have you seen my black shoes?" Peyton came in after about ten minutes looking a little stressed.

"Hey, you look great," Jake said.

"Oh, thanks," she said quickly, "Black shoes? Have you seen them?"

"Um…you have loads of black shoes. What do they look like?"

Peyton rolled her eyes, "heels, straps, that kind of thing."

"Pey I've found them!" they heard Brooke's voice calling from upstairs and Peyton rushed out again, "Thanks Brooke!"

Nathan was checking his watch for the fiftieth time when they finally came down. They got up and he went to give Haley a kiss, who looked beautiful in Brooke's top and a denim skirt.

"Could you guys take any longer?" he asked.

Haley rolled her eyes, "But it's all worth it right?" Nathan looked at her and shrugged, "Yeah." She smiled, "Thanks."

Jake helped Peyton slip her coat over one of her little black band T-shirts, which she was wearing with black jeans and her high heels.

"Are we ready?" Nathan asked, "Where's Brooke?"

Peyton stuck her head up the stairs, "Brooke, come on, we're going!"

"I'm coming!" Brooke hurried down the stairs, running a hand through her hair and grabbing her jacket in the hall. She was wearing a short black skirt and a dark green top that clung to her curves.

Lucas' jaw dropped and she glanced at him as she turned around, and reached out and shut it, flashing him a smile. He chuckled sheepishly and they left, getting into Nathan and Brooke's cars.

"Lucas you're driving, I can't in these heels." Brooke said, throwing him her keys. He caught them and she got in the other side. Peyton and Jake got in the back and Lucas started the ignition.

When they arrived Peyton immediately went off to greet the band and start setting up to DJ.

The others chatted for a bit until the place started filling up and the music started, and then they went to get some drinks from the bar.

Leanne Rimes came on stage to great cheers from the crowd after a little while and began playing her set. Haley leaned back in Nathan's arms and listened to the singing, admiring her powerful voice.

_I don't like to be alone in the night_

_And I don't like to hear I'm wrong when I'm right_

_And I don't like to have the rain on my shoes_

_But I do love you, but I do love you_

_I don't like to see the sky painted gray_

_And I don't like when nothing's going my way_

_And I don't like to be the one with the blues_

_But I do love you, but I do love you_

_Love everything about the way you're loving me_

_The way you lay your head_

_Upon my shoulder when you sleep_

_And I love to kiss you in the rain_

_I love everything you do, oh I do_

_I don't like to turn the radio on_

_Just to find I missed my favorite song_

_And I don't like to be the last with the news_

_But I do love you, but I do love you_

The words washed over Brooke as she listened, and she glanced over at Lucas briefly. His eyes caught hers and held them for a second, before they both looked away, slight smiles on their faces.

* * *

Brooke was talking to some friends from school when she felt a hand on the small of her back and heard Lucas' voice in her ear, "Do you want a drink?" 

She turned to him and nodded, holding out her glass. He took it and headed of to the bar, and she followed him, and hopped on to a bar stool while he ordered.

"So, you having fun?" he asked, passing her her glass.

"Yup! Band's great, crowd's great and there's no sign of Josh anywhere."

Lucas grinned and nodded, and then he saw Brooke's face fell.

"I spoke too soon."

He looked up and saw that she was right. Josh was standing a little way away with some other guys from the basketball team, his arm round a blonde girl Brooke recognised from her squad.

"Ugh! That slut! Maybe I should kick her off the squad…"

Lucas chuckled, "Or you could just take the high road and ignore him…and her."

Brooke rolled her eyes, "That's not as fun."

Lucas gave her a look and she laughed, "Fine whatever. I was cooking up a really good payback plan but you're right; he's really not worth it." She waved a hand and shook herself slightly, "I'll ignore them. Be a distraction Broody, come dance." She held out a hand and he took it, leading her onto the dance floor.

As soon as Brooke slid her arms around his neck she forgot all about Josh and whatever-her-name-was. She relaxed, and he felt her melt into his arms, the music taking over her body.

He moved his hands a little further down her hips and one of his fingers brushed the bare skin of her midriff sending electricity up her spine. He savoured the feeling of dancing with her again, the skin on the back of his neck burned at her touch where one hand cupped it, her other wrist resting loosely on his shoulder.

Her mind was beginning to drift away, lost in the rhythm of Lucas and the music, when she felt a sharp tap on her shoulder.

She turned, annoyed at being interrupted, and saw the last person she wanted to talk to.

"What do you want Josh?"

"I just wanted to say congratulations, I see everything turned out well for you." His tone was bitter, and he shot a glare at Lucas.

Brooke gave him a scornful look, "Looks like I should be the one congratulating you; you found a replacement pretty quickly."

Josh narrowed his eyes, "Whatever, at least I waited till we'd actually broken up."

"I'm sorry, what! Lucas and I aren't even together now, let alone last week!"

Lucas chose this moment to intervene; he could see things were getting a little out of hand. He stepped in front of Brooke and said, "Look man, just leave her alone. This really isn't the time."

"Listen Scott I don't care how much of a big-shot star you are or whatever, but we're talking right now, so maybe you could just shut up."

"Josh I don't want to talk to you," Brooke said, stepping next to Lucas.

Josh looked from Lucas to Brooke and shook his head, "Whatever, I don't know why I came over here in the first place. She's all yours man, don't know why I bothered dating Tree Hill's biggest slut anyway."

Before he could turn away Lucas had grabbed his jacket and pulled him back. He was a couple of inches taller than Josh and glared down at him. "Don't ever call her that again. In fact from now on, it's be better just to stay away from her."

He let go of him and Josh stumbled backwards a few steps. A few people turned to see what was going on but Brooke had already taken Lucas' hand and pulled him away.

* * *

"I'm sorry about that." Brooke was standing on her doorstep saying good night, after Lucas had driven her home. 

"Hey, it's not your fault. Guys turn into jerks when they lose beautiful girls."

She blushed and smiled, and he smiled back.

"I actually had fun tonight though," she said.

"Yeah? Me too."

She paused for a second and then leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Night Luke."

"Goodnight Brooke."

She disappeared behind the door, and he stood outside for a minute, before turning slowly and going back to the car.

Brooke slipped off her shoes and went upstairs. She fell back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. She lay there for a while, thinking, before her thoughts made her tired and she started to get changed into pyjamas.

She was just slipping on a tank top when it got caught on her bracelet. She untangled it, and pulled it on, checking her bracelet when she was done.

The silver heart shimmered in the moonlight and she reached out to touch it, running her finger along it. Her heart fluttered and she bit her lip, still staring at the charm...

She went over to her dresser and pulled out some jeans. Slipping them on instead of her pyjamas she hurried downstairs and put on her sneakers, grabbing a jacket just before she left.

She went outside and was met with an empty street. "Dammit," she muttered, "He has my car…" She looked up the street and shrugged, and started walking.

Lucas was eating a bowl of cereal when he heard the knock. He couldn't sleep, and still hadn't changed out of the clothes he had worn to Tric; he had just swapped his shirt for a T-shirt.

Frowning slightly he went to answer it.

"Brooke." His tone was slightly surprised, but she was almost certain she could hear a note of happiness in it.

He looked at her, standing there on his doorstep. As amazing as she had looked earlier that night, somehow she had never seemed more beautiful to him than at that moment; small and nervous, but with the hint of a smile on her face.

"What's up? Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just…I wanted to see you."

He raised an eyebrow, "You saw me like half an hour ago, what's going on?"

She hesitated, "Um…can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." He stood to one side and shut the door behind her.

She turned to face him, and looked round the hallway. "Can we…go in you room or something?" she asked.

"Yeah, but, my mom's not here…if that's…"

"Oh right, okay. Well then…this is fine."

He took a step towards her, looking down at her with kind eyes, "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah." She looked down, letting out a low laugh, "I kind off left the house without really deciding why I was going. And I was trying to think of something the whole way here and then suddenly I was here…and I still don't know what I want to say…"

She took a deep breath, and looked up at him, finally closing her eyes for a second and starting. "Lucas…I've always been seen as someone who takes risks.

"But I'm not stupid; I like to stack the odds in my favour. I wouldn't risk my life on something dumb like drugs for example. Because I find it hard to take risks with something as important as my life…" Brooke paused, and Lucas continued to watch her, wondering where she was taking this.

"…and it's the same with my heart. I find it hard to risk my heart, because I've been hurt and it's a hell of a lot worse than when any other risk goes wrong."

Lucas looked down, and Brooke cupped his cheek with her hand, lifting his face to look at him, "But I want to take a risk. Because I trust you, and I'm pretty sure now that this is the safest bet I can make."

He looked up and met her eyes, which shone brightly. "Brooke, listen. I know you've had a lot of things to think about…about everything that's happened to us. But there's some things I've wanted to tell you, because you have to know how I feel."

Brooke nodded silently, and he hesitated, trying to find the right words.

"You…mean more to me than anyone in the world. I'm serious," he said, as she gave him a look, "You do. All I want is for you to be happy…and I want to be able to make you happy. Because when I'm with you, you make me _so_ happy…and I can't stand the thought that I ever hurt you, but I did."

He slipped a hand onto her cheek, "And I will do everything I can to make sure that no one _ever _hurts you again."

Brooke opened her mouth to say something but he slipped his thumb over her lips to stop her.

"You don't have to say anything, I just wanted you to know that. Because, whatever you decide…_I _think we're good together," he gave a little shrug and a small smile, "We're happy together."

He slid his thumb off her lips, looking into her eyes. She was silent for a moment, staring up at him. Then achingly slowly she leaned up, until her lips met his.

The kiss quickly increased in passion, as Brooke reached a hand behind Lucas' head, pulling him closer to her, begging entrance to his mouth with her tongue. He allowed her in, wrapping his arms around her.

She moaned against his mouth, remembering the feel of his lips.

They broke apart, and she smiled up at him, gasping for air.

"We are," she said, "We are happy together."

He smiled back at her, and she looked down, still smiling and biting her lip gently. She looked back up at him, and met his eyes.

"I'm giving you my heart. Look after it okay?"

He nodded, and, unable to find any other words, simply whispered, "I love you."

She kissed him again, "I love you too," she whispered.

Their eyes met and they kissed once more. This time they did not break it, and the kiss escalated till they were both breathing heavily, Brooke with her back against the wall, and Lucas pressed against her.

"When's your mom getting back?" Brooke asked, her voice low, as her lips trailed down his neck.

Lucas stopped kissing her and moved back a little, looking at her carefully. "Not till tomorrow," he said.

Brooke slid her hands down his T-shirt, raising an eyebrow very slightly.

"You sure you want to? It's not too soon?" he asked.

She smiled, "I think we've waited long enough."

Lucas smiled back, "Okay."

He kissed her again, this time allowing his hands to slide under her top, smiling against her lips as he felt her shiver. Her fingers loosened his belt and he lifted her top off. She pulled off his T-shirt and wrapped her legs round his waist, her hands held his head as she continued to kiss him, and then his lips moved down her neck and collarbone and she leant her head back, feeling her skin burn at his touch.

He carried her into his bedroom and laid her on the bed, slipping off her jeans and running a hand up her thigh. She gasped and her felt her fingers clench his back. He trailed kisses across her stomach and her hand slid up his back and she entangled her fingers in his hair.

His lips moved onto hers once more, and he kissed her gently, catching her small smile as his hand stopped on her tattoo on her hip.

He smiled too, moving his head down and placing a kiss on it, before kissing her lips once more, his breathing becoming ragged as he unclipped her bra beneath her.

"Miss me?" she whispered hoarsely as his lips moved over her body.

He met her eyes, which shone darkly. "You have no idea."

* * *

Lucas woke up and smiled as he felt Brooke lying next to him. In the dim morning light he could make out the outline of her back pressed against his chest, and the curve of her neck where her hair fell to disclose it. 

He kissed the bare skin of her shoulder, and revelled in how beautiful she was. She moved slightly, and turned her head, her eyes fluttering open.

"Hey gorgeous," she murmured.

He smiled, "Morning beautiful."

A full smile graced her face, and she twisted round a little more, bringing a hand over behind his neck and kissing him firmly on the lips.

"You have no idea how much I love you," she whispered as they broke apart.

Lucas chuckled, "I think I've got a pretty good idea."

_I hope you liked that. **PLEASE REVIEW** because this is the longest chapter I've ever written and I think it deserves a little recognition! I'll try and update soon, the next chapter picks up pretty much where this left off._


	19. Chapter 19

_I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages. School's been crazy towards the end of term, and then I was ill for a couple of days so I got really behind. But I'm better now and on holiday so I have lots of time for writing! Also, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. There were some really nice ones and I loved reading them!_

"When's your mom coming back?" Brooke asked.

"I'm not sure exactly."

Brooke looked down at herself; she wasn't wearing anything except underwear she had put back on the night before. She leant over the side of the bed and grabbed her tank top that was lying on the floor.

Lucas groaned, "It won't be for a while though," he said quickly, taking the top from her.

Brooke rolled her eyes, "Yeah but I don't really wanna take that chance. The last thing I want your mom to find is the two of us half naked when she doesn't even know we're back together yet." She snatched the top back, and slipped it on, laughing as Lucas pouted.

"Fine," he grumbled, looking around for his T-shirt.

"I didn't say you had to put anything on," Brooke said, and he looked over at her, eyebrows raised.

"What? It's been a while," she said laughing, and trailing a finger across his chest, "and I'm not quite ready for it to disappear yet!" She grinned at him and stood up to find her jeans and Lucas chuckled and lay back down on the bed, watching her.

She pulled on her jeans and then sat on the edge of her bed, doing them up. Lucas crawled over and sat behind her, brushing her hair over one shoulder and kissing her neck.

She smiled and turned her head so she could kiss him. She turned round completely and they fell back onto the bed, Brooke's hair falling around Lucas' head. She swept it away and kissed him again, and he rolled them both over, supporting himself on his arms so he was hovering over her, her hands on his back.

"We shouldn't get carried away," Brooke said between kisses, but Lucas didn't pull away.

"Your mom…" Brooke managed before he kissed her again and he sighed and rolled off her.

"I should have just said she'd be away for the whole weekend," he grumbled.

Brooke giggled and rolled onto her side, resting a hand on his chest, "Well you didn't."

Eventually Lucas got dressed too and they went into the kitchen in search of some breakfast.

When Karen got home, having spent the night away after a benefit dinner out of town, she was greeted by the smell of bacon cooking.

She hung up her coat and stopped at the door of the kitchen, and smiled at the sight of her son looking so happy. Lucas was standing behind Brooke, with his arms round her, while she transferred crispy bacon from the pan to the plates.

He took a piece from one of the plates and began eating it.

"Hey! That was one of mine."

He rolled his eyes, "Well take one of mine then."

She shook her head and took and bite from the piece he was holding instead. He laughed and then caught sight of his mom in the doorway.

"Mom!" He went to give her a hug and she hugged him back. "Hi sweetie."

He glanced back at Brooke and then turned back to his mother, "We were just making some breakfast, want some?"

"Um, sure." She looked over at Brooke too, wondering when one of them would explain when the two of them had become a couple again.

"Hi Karen," Brooke said shyly. "Sorry to just…be here when you got back. I kind of came over unannounced last night and - "

Lucas glanced at his mother quickly as he heard Brooke mention the fact she had been there all night, but she didn't seem to mind.

Karen waved away Brooke's apology, "That's quite alright Brooke. I know you two had some…things to work out. I'm glad everything's okay now."

She was met with beaming smiles from both teenagers, who shared a little look before they finished setting up breakfast.

Karen looked fondly at them both. She really was glad that they were happy. And she would leave giving them a talking to about Brooke spending the night for another time, she was sure there would be many more opportunities to do so. For now she would let them both bask in their newfound happiness.

* * *

After breakfast Brooke and Lucas went down to the Rivercourt. It was a nice day and they didn't have much to do so they spent the morning sitting by the river and bouncing a ball around on the court. 

Lucas taught Brooke how to take a free throw, and she was pretty good, although every time he tried to slightly correct her positioning they ended up kissing instead so eventually he gave up.

"Dammit," Lucas said, checking his watch around lunchtime, "I said on Friday I'd meet Haley for lunch today. Do you there's any chance she'll have forgotten?"

Brooke raised an eyebrow, "I doubt it. Call her… tell her to come here and bring Nathan. We can all hang out," Brooke said.

"Yeah alright." He pulled out his phone and dialled Haley's number.

"Hello?"

"Hales, it's Luke."

"Oh cool. Are you at the café? I'm just on my way…"

"Um…yeah, about that…I'm at the Rivercourt. Can you come here instead?"

"Er…I guess."

"Great. And bring Nathan…and food." Haley said bye, sounding slightly sonfused, and he hung up.

"Good idea, we can have a picnic!" Brooke grinned.

Lucas chuckled. "You'd better call Peyton and tell her to bring food too."

Brooke nodded and grabbed Lucas' phone.

"Pey? Hey it's Brooke. Come to the Rivercourt, kay? And bring loads of food."

"Brooke wha - ?"

"Just come ok, with Jake. And Pey? _Loads_ of food."

She hung up and passed Lucas his phone back.

"Why didn't you tell her what's going on?"

Brooke shrugged, "It's more fun this way."

Haley got out of her and Nathan's car and went round the side to get the bag of food she'd brought out of the back. Nathan got out too and locked the car, and took Haley's hand as they began walking towards the court.

"Haley! Nathan!" They turned to see Peyton and Jake approaching, carrying a big hamper between them.

"Hey guys! What are you doing here?"

"Brooke called us. She call you too?"

"No…Lucas called me. We were meant to be having lunch together but he said to come here instead, and bring food…which apparently you were told to do too…" Haley eyed the large hamper.

"Yeah. What do you think is going on?"

"Sounds like Brooke and Lucas have some explaining to do…"

"Yeah," said Jake, looking over towards the Rivercourt, where he had just spied the two, "Like why they're making out…"

They all looked over and saw that Brooke and Lucas were indeed very preoccupied with each other, sitting beneath a tree a little way away from the court.

They approached them and Haley cleared her throat.

Brooke looked up, "Tutorwife! And everyone else! Yay, you're here…and you brought food."

"Yeah, what's with that by the way?"

"We thought we could have a picnic."

"Well you could have told _us_ that!"

"Also, what's with this…" Peyton waved a finger between the two of them, "When did this happen?"

Brooke beamed, "Yesterday."

"And you were going to tell me when?"

"Um….now." She grinned sheepishly, "Peyton, Lucas and I are back together."

"Yes I can see that." Peyton smiled, "That's great you guys."

The other added their congratulations and Nathan said, "Well I think we should have a little celebration then. Lets get this picnic started."

Brooke tipped her head to one side, "Doesn't quite have the same ring to it does it?" She giggled.

Nathan rolled his eyes, "Whatever, lets just eat!"

* * *

"Oh my god. I'm so stuffed," Jake said. 

They had all finished eating and were sitting around on the grass near the court.

"Yeah, when I said bring a lot of food, I didn't mean that much!" Brooke said, chuckling. She leaned back against Lucas but he groaned and pushed her off.

"Hey! What?"

"Don't put any kind of pressure on my stomach."

She rolled her eyes and rested her head in his lap instead.

Nathan lay back on the grass and put his hands behind his head. "So what do you guys want to do this afternoon?"

His question was met by shrugs and vague mumblings from the group.

"Glad to see you all have such firm views."

Peyton laughed and sat up, "I don't mind. We could just hang out here."

"Yeah, anyone wanna play some ball?" Jake asked.

"Not right now," Lucas said, "But later, yeah, sure." He leant back against the tree and ran his fingers through Brooke's hair, his thumbs brushing her forehead.

"Mmm, that tickles."

He chuckled, "Sorry."

"So you guys, how did you get back together?" Haley asked. "What happened last night?"

"Um…" Brooke hesitated, wondering whether she should admit the fact they had had sex just minutes after getting back together.

"Yeah Brooke, what made you change your mind?"

"I don't know. Lucas dropped me off. And I went upstairs and just…wanted to be with him again. I wanted him to be there."

Lucas listened, interested to hear what had made her decide to come and see him.

"So I went to see him and…well, we talked - "

"And ended up making out and doing it," Peyton said, chuckling.

"How do you know!"

"Because that's obviously what happened, right? The tension just got too much for you guys to bear…finally!"

Lucas chuckled, "I guess. But it was more because we talked about how we felt and the issues that were there and got past them. And realised that in the end we love each other…and that's all that matters."

Brooke smiled up at him, "Yeah."

The rest of the gang shared a look, and Nathan mimed sticking him finger down his throat. Brooke flipped him her middle finger and he laughed.

They spent the rest of Saturday hanging out at the Rivercourt. The boys played some basketball for a bit but mostly they just sat, relaxing altogether. They spent Sunday in much the same way, although Haley and Brooke worked a shift at the café in the afternoon.

Haley joked that it was the first time Brooke was detaching herself from Lucas all weekend; as they were both still revelling in the fact that they were back together, she had barely left his side and the others began to get tired of finding them making out every five minutes.

* * *

Brooke felt a hand on her waist as she was getting books out of her locker on Monday morning and grinned and turned round. Lucas smiled as her eyes met his and leaned in to drop a kiss on her lips. 

"Morning," he said.

"Good morning to you too boyfriend," she said cheerily. At that moment a group of girls went past and caught sight of the two. Their faces suddenly fell as they saw Lucas' hands around Brooke's waist and one of them made a sound of disgust and flipped her hair before moving on.

Brooke giggled as she watched them walk away, "I guess word will get round pretty quickly that Lucas Scott is no longer available."

Lucas chuckled and rolled his eyes. As much as Brooke complained sometimes about being the subject of rumours at school, he knew she loved it when she was the centre of gossip, especially when it was for something like snagging one of the most wanted guys in school.

"So you gonna walk me to class or what?"

Lucas smiled and took her hand, "Of course."

They had basketball and cheerleading practice after school that day, and so walked to the gym together, and shared a kiss outside the locker rooms before Jake told them to get a room as he went in.

The practice was an intense one, as the team was getting ready for their game against the Greyhounds that weekend. Although they weren't a great team, Whitey wasn't taking any chances.

It was also the annual cheerleading competition, the Sparkle Classic, that weekend, and so the cheerleaders were all ready to finalise their routine and get it perfected. Brooke however, wasn't really in the mood…

"Why don't we skip practice today guys?" she said.

"Skip it? Why would we do that Brooke?"

There was a pause.

"Brooke?"

"Huh?" She eyes snapped back from where they had been drifting over to the basketball players, "We could do something more fun. Like…get manicures!"

"What's going on Brooke? Last year you were a total psycho-bitch about this competition," Bevin said.

Brooke shrugged, "Last year I was seriously pissed off. I guess I'm just happier now and it doesn't seem so important."

Peyton rolled her eyes, she could guess why that was…

When the guys took a short break Peyton went over to talk to Lucas. Brooke had finally agreed that maybe having practice wasn't _such_ a bad idea, and so was now helping Theresa with a move, though half-heartedly.

"Lucas, you need to piss off your girlfriend! She needs to be motivated to win this tournament and right now she's too 'happy' to care!"

Lucas chuckled, "So you want me to piss her off?"

"Yeah. Or, you know, talk to her. Whichever."

Lucas nodded, "I'll see what I can do." He followed Peyton back over to the cheerleaders.

"Brooke, babe apparently we need to talk." He grinned at her and took her hand, leading her away from the others.

"Peyton, we have to do something. Brooke just totally zoned out in the middle of showing me a move!"

"Don't worry, Luke's taking care of it," Peyton said smiling, and indicated to where Lucas was talking to Brooke, holding her hands by their sides.

"…So maybe it would be a good idea if, even if you don't get really pissed off, to just get a little stressed about this, for the sake of your team. You know how they need to be whipped into shape!"

Brooke laughed, "I guess your right. Did they get you to talk to me?"

"Well actually Peyton wanted me to piss you off, but I figured this was safer."

Brooke smiled, "You're right about that! Okay, well they got it. Hormonal and bitchy, comin' up!" She pulled Lucas towards her and kissed him, "Thanks Broody."

"No problem. I'm glad you're so happy."

"Me too."

Lucas went over to rejoin his team mates and Brooke went back to her squad. "Okay guys, psycho Brooke is back. We're going to do that routine again and it had to be ten times better. Oh, and Bevin? Two words: face mask."

_Hope you guys enjoyed that. Again, sorry for the long gap! **PLEASE REVIEW**, and I promise, god allowing, the next one will be up sooner!_


	20. Chapter 20

_New chapter! Thanks so much for the reviews for the last one, they made me write this one a little quicker!_

_**Note:** This chapter is based at the cheerleading competition that features in 'Spirit in the Night' in series one (but a year later). So there's some references to that which you can just ignore if you haven't seen that episode or don't remember it._

Whitey sighed and folded his arms. Escorting twenty teenagers on a weekend trip was his idea of hell. The hotel, the competition…what made it all worse was that it was their idea of heaven. He could see it in their faces; every last one of them was planning how they would break his rules that night. Well if they thought they were going to get past him they had another thing coming…

"Hi Coach Durham!"

A brunette head popped up in front of him, a chirpy smile on her face. Brooke Davis. He'd be keeping a very close eye on her that evening.

"Brooke." He gave her a nod.

"I just wanted to let you know that we've found a solution to the little problem we had last year."

"Problem?"

"About the cheerleading gear; that there was no room for it in the coach. I just know it's been keeping you up at night trying to work out what to do." She winked at him and Whitey tried to restrain a smile.

"So any way I'm going to be driving down in my car, so it's okay." She turned towards her car, and then turned back, clicking her fingers. "Oh, I almost forgot. Lucas Scott won't be travelling on the coach, just thought I'd let you know."

Whitey nodded slowly, "He won't, eh?" Whitey sighed, "Alright then, of you go. And tell Lucas I'll see him when he arrives."

"Thanks!" Brooke bounced off towards her car, and Whitey watched her go, shaking his head. Yes, he'd _definitely_ be keeping a close eye on that one.

The basketball team and cheerleaders all arrived at the hotel at around midday on Saturday. The basketball game was taking place the next morning, and the cheerleading competition later on Sunday afternoon.

Whitey gathered everyone around and handed out room keys. "Now as usual these rooms are non negotiable. And there will be _no_ dorm hopping after lights out, you hear?" He eyed Brooke, who looked back at him innocently.

Nathan looked at the key he had been given for his room with Lucas. "You know, seeing as Hales and I are married and all, I really think we should be able to share a room."

"Rooms are non negotiable," Lucas mimicked, and shrugged, "Guess you're stuck with me man."

Nathan made a face, but took Haley's hand and followed Lucas upstairs anyway.

The guys were unpacking their stuff a little while later when Brooke came in.

"All right, it's all sorted out."

They looked up at her, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"Bevin and Theresa are in the room next door to you, and they're going to switch with me and Peyton. Whitey doesn't know who half the cheerleaders are so if the girls switch, I reckon he won't notice. Now Haley is down the hall Nate, she's in a room on her own because she didn't come with the school, so basically you can camp out there. This leaves Broody in here, with me, and Jake can go to Peyton's room. Anyone comes, I go back next door, and Jake comes in here and pretends to be Nathan."

The guys looked at her for a second and then Nathan said, "Brooke, I don't quite understand everything you just said, but I'll go along with it anyway."

"Great. All you have to do is get out of here later so me and Luke can get it on."

"I did not need to hear the second part of that sentence."

"Duly noted."

Lucas shook his head at the two and came and took Brooke's hand. "Sounds great Brooke."

She smiled up at him and kissed him.

"Would you prefer if I got out of here right now?" Nathan asked.

Brooke checked her watch. "Sure, why not."

Nathan rolled his eyes and left, heading down the hall to see Haley. Brooke wrapped her arms round Lucas' neck when he was gone.

Lucas dipped his head and kissed her softly, tightening his arms round her. Brooke moaned slightly as he pulled away. "Hey, do you think you could get that Jacuzzi again?" he asked.

Brooke considered, "I'll see what I can do."

Lucas grinned, "Did I tell you you're amazing?"

"Not today."

"Well you are."

"You haven't even heard what I've got planned for tonight yet."

"I thought we were…you know."

"That's later," she said with a smile, "First we're all going out, once we get past Whitey."

"And we're going to do that…how?"

"Leave it all to me."

* * *

Tim Smith walked down the corridor, whistling. Tonight, he was gonna get with a cheerleader. I mean, there were ten of them on the squad, and there were ten basketball players there that weekend, including their reserves. And Nathan was out of the running. He could do the math.

He opened the door to Nathan's room, "Hey man, so what are the plans for - " He stopped dead in his tracks as it was clear Nathan was not in the room.

"Tim! Get the hell out!" Brooke stood up off Lucas and stood with her hands on her hips. Lucas, wearing his jeans but no shirt, rested his head back on the pillow, and chuckled.

"Um…er…" Tim stood there, his brain having momentarily shut down. Brooke was only wearing a bra and jeans.

"Dude." Lucas sat up, having decided Tim should really stop staring at his girlfriend now.

"Right, sorry." He went back to the door, turning round before he closed it. He apologised once more, to Brooke's chest, before shutting the door.

Brooke rolled her eyes and went back to Lucas, who was laughing.

"Way to defend my honour Broody."

"I think you can do that quite well enough on your own."

Brooke hit him.

"What? Fine, I'll kick his ass later."

"Good." Brooke smiled, satisfied.

"Now, where were we…" Lucas began kissing her again but Brooke pulled away.

"I'm not really in the mood anymore. Wanna watch some TV instead?"

Lucas rolled onto his back. "I'm gonna kill Tim."

"I'll make it up to you later…I've already asked about the hot tub."

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah. But how about we keep that to ourselves?"

"Oh, definitely."

* * *

After supper that night the guys and girls from Tree Hill went upstairs, hung out in their rooms, and were generally perfect angels. At nine fifteen, Theresa spotted Whitey leave the hotel to go to a newsagent across the street. Within five minutes twenty-one teenagers were gathered in Brooke and Peyton's room. 

"Now everyone. This is the plan. Lights out is at ten. At this time the two chaperones will come round the rooms. Everyone must be in bed, but act natural. To divert suspicion, Tim," she pointed at him and grinned evilly, "will be caught leaving his room at five past ten. He will be sent back without too harsh a punishment… hopefully."

Tim made a sound as if to complain but Brooke silenced him with a look.

"That should make them think the worst is over. They'll leave, and, at worst, will decide to check again at eleven, if so, well, we'll all be gone. But by then we'll be out partying so there's not much they can do."

Everyone nodded, if their rooms were found empty, they'd just have to face the consequences in the morning.

"So, at ten fifteen, the first group will leave. That'll be you Nathan, and half the guys. Five minutes later Lucas will leave with the other half. That's to give you an extra fifteen minutes to get ready girls," she smiled at her cheerleaders, who nodded gratefully.

"If the guys get caught they'll come back up, and we'll try again at ten thirty, but hopefully that won't happen. If all goes according to plan, we'll all be out of here by ten twenty. Any questions?

"Hales, as the only person not here under school authority, you'll be guarding the end of the corridor. If a teacher comes, start yelling, kay?"

Haley nodded.

"Alright. See you all at 2220." She finished with a salute and everyone left.

* * *

Claire Young tapped her foot annoyingly while she waited for her squad. They were going out that evening but the other girls had all stopped to talk to a bunch of cheerleaders from other schools in the lobby. 

"Come on you guys! Could you be any slower?"

"Yeah yeah, we're coming Claire." They followed her out of the door.

"So where are we going?"

Claire shrugged, "I've heard there're some great clubs in the town."

"Claire! Look, it's the Tree Hill Ravens."

"Oh god, not Brooke Davis and that lot?"

"No the basketball team! My god they're fine…"

Claire looked over, mildly interested. She was bored of most of the guys on the Bear Creek basketball team, and these guys certainly were hot.

"That's Nathan Scott," one of the girls pointed, "my brother met him at basketball camp."

"Check out the blonde next to him, now he is hot!"

Claire nodded in approval, and then made her mind up. Grabbing some of her friends she went over to the team who were standing outside the Hotel a little way away.

"Hi! I'm Claire Young, from Bear Creek. We just want to welcome you guys and say good luck for tomorrow." She appeared to be speaking to the whole team but kept her eyes on Lucas the whole time.

"Um, thanks," he said.

"We were just heading out somewhere actually, maybe you know some good places to go?"

Lucas looked on either side of him to make sure she wasn't talking to someone else, and then said, "Er…not really. We're just waiting for some friends actually."

Nathan smiled to himself as Claire continued to talk to Lucas. Little did she know that he was probably the last guy on the team she had any chance of scoring with…except maybe him of course, he was married after all.

"…So if you guys want to meet up later," Claire was saying.

At this point Tim stepped forward, "Hi, Tim Smith. We would love to meet up later, why don't you give me your number?"

Claire looked at him briefly before turning back to Lucas, "How about it?"

Lucas was saved from thinking up some excuse by the hotel front doors opening, and the entire Tree Hill cheerleading squad walking out, led by Brooke, who headed straight for the guys.

Claire saw her at once and rolled her eyes, 'Great, another showdown.' And she'd just been about to seal the deal with blondy here.

To her horror however, Brooke didn't appear to notice her and instead went straight up to the blonde guy who wrapped an arm round her waist.

"Hey babe," he said, kissing her as she looped her arms round his neck.

Nathan almost burst out laughing at Claire's horrified expression as she saw that the guy she liked was in fact her arch-rival's boyfriend.

Brooke had noticed Claire, and saw the look on her face. Putting two and two together she grinned and said, "Hey Claire, what's up?"

Claire sneered slightly, "Hey Brooke. We just came over to wish you luck and stuff. And say, from captain to captain, don't let your squad hit it too hard tonight. You know, you've got to be fresh-faced for the judges."

Brooke smiled a chirpy fake smile, "Aw, thanks. Yeah that's good advice." She turned to Lucas, "What do you think, should we just stay in? I mean, we might as well make use of the suite right?" Lucas struggled to keep a straight face at Brooke's antics but nodded seriously.

Claire's draw dropped, and she turned away, disgusted.

"On the other hand though, we're really here to have fun, I mean, it's not about the winning, right Claire? And this year we really should take the opportunity to go out, seeing as we don't have to re-choreograph our new routine. Because, boy, that was stressful. Worked out okay though, didn't it?"

Claire had turned a deep red but Brooke just gave her another little smile. "So I think we're going to go out. But maybe you guys should get some rest," she faked a worried look, "it looks like you need it. You've got to watch those bags Claire."

With a little wave she walked past Claire with Lucas, the others following her, laughing openly now at her furious expression.

Brooke giggled once they were down the street. "Okay I know that was mean but it was so much fun!" she said.

Lucas laughed. "Thank god you came out when you did, I couldn't think of a way to get rid of her!"

"Was she hitting on you?" Brooke asked.

"Oh you should have seen it," Nathan said. "She was trying everything and Lucas was just going 'er…'. And then when you came out and kissed him…her face!"

Peyton laughed, "I think you officially got her back for beating us last year."

"Oh no. We'll have done that when we beat them tomorrow!"

* * *

They all made their way to an under 21 club that Tim had found out about (after Nathan had made absolutely sure it wasn't a ladies' strip club). They all started going in but Lucas was eyeing up the club across the street. 

"You know, you and I have fake IDs," he said in an undertone to Brooke.

Brooke followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"B, come on." Peyton was gesturing for her to come inside.

Brooke shrugged and took Lucas' hand, and they went inside. Lucas came willingly; she was right, they were here to have fun with their friends, not on their own.

They made their way down some steps into a large dark room. A band was playing on the stage and there were loads of people dancing. Brooke recognised some of them from other cheerleading squads.

"This place is pretty cool," Peyton said, nodding appreciatively.

"Yeah. I think Tric's got a rival Pey!"

They all laughed and headed over towards the bar and some seating. Brooke decided to get some drinks for them all. "Do you think this place serves alcohol?" she asked.

"Considering it's an under 21 place I don't think that's very likely." Nathan said, chuckling.

"Oh yeah…I forgot."

"I guess you'll have to have fun without the buzz tonight Brooke," Nathan said.

"Shut up!" Brooke said good naturedly, "I didn't mean it like that."

She approached the bar with Haley who groaned at the long queue.

"Don't worry, me and bartenders have a special relationship."

They stood there for a few seconds until Brooke caught the bartender's eye and he finished serving his customer and came over, skipping a load of other people.

"What can I get for you?" he asked.

Brooke reeled of the list of drinks with a smile and he started getting them ready.

"Here with a lot of friends?" he asked.

"Quite a few, yeah. We're here for the cheerleading competition."

"A cheerleader?" the guy grinned, raising an eyebrow.

Brooke nodded, smiling.

"Any chance I might be able to get a dance when my shift's over?" he asked, placing the drinks on a tray.

Brooke pretended to think about while he slid the tray over. When she'd taken it she shook her head, "No thanks. I'm here with my boyfriend."

She took the drinks and went back to the table with Haley, who was smiling to herself. The bartender watched her go, and sighed.

"That was quick," Nathan said as they sat down.

"Well Brooke flirted with the bartender."

"Hales! I did not!"

"Oh please, you so did. And then he asked her if she'd dance with him later and she told him she was here with her boyfriend."

"Too right," Lucas said, chuckling.

"He didn't look too happy."

"I did _not_ flirt with him."

Haley gave her a look.

"Well maybe a little. But only so we'd get our drinks quickly!"

Lucas put an arm round her and kissed the top of her head.

"I never flirt with guys anymore unless they're doing a job that could be done quicker or better," Brooke said looking up at him.

Lucas laughed. "That's okay. You're allowed to use your powers for good," he joked.

A little later they were all sitting round talking, their drinks half finished. Haley and Nathan had gone off to dance, and the others were laughing at Tim's attempts to pick up any girl he could find.

The song changed and Brooke stood up, untangling herself from Lucas' arms.

"Pey, come on. We're dancing." Brooke grabbed Peyton's hand and dragged her towards the dance floor.

"We'll come in a second, okay?" Lucas said, and Brooke nodded.

Jake and Lucas continued chatting, watching the girls dance at the same time. Lucas frowned slightly as he saw a couple of guys approach them. Peyton and Brooke brushed them off, but one of them hung around, his eyes on Brooke's back.

He got a little too close to her and Lucas stood up. "Sorry man, I gotta take care of something," he said to Jake.

He approached the guy. "Dude, you wanna back off? This is my girlfriend."

"Oh, hey. Sorry man…" the guy left.

Brooke turned to Lucas, who was frowning after him.

"You're so sexy when you're angry," she said grinning, before kissing him. Lucas smiled bashfully. "See this is why I can't take you out anywhere. I turn my back for one second and people start hitting on you."

Brooke giggled, "Maybe I should get a T-shirt or something with 'property of Lucas Scott' on it."

Lucas chuckled.

"But don't worry about it, kay? I can take of them till you come along and scare them off." She grinned and Lucas nodded.

* * *

Brooke took Lucas' hand and they crept downstairs and into the pool of the hotel. They'd all come back from the club and the others were all upstairs now. Brooke and Lucas had gone to their rooms to get changed and then snuck out again, narrowly avoiding Whitey who was making a last patrol of the corridors. 

The lights were off but Brooke went to a control box on the wall, and, producing a key from her pocket, opened it and flicked some switches.

The underwater lights in the pool came on, casting a shimmering glow around the room. Brooke grinned at Lucas triumphantly and he returned it. She went over to him and kissed him, her hands moving to the bottom of his T-shirt as she did so.

Lucas smiled against her mouth and they broke the kiss so she could pull off his T-shirt. She then stripped down to her bikini and slid into the warm hot tub with him.

Brooke straddled his lap, kissing him, while his hands rested on her thighs. She ran her fingers through his hair and moved her lips to his neck. He let out a low moan and she smiled, trailing kisses up to his ear.

Suddenly the large doors leading into the swimming pool opened. Brooke looked up quickly.

"Tim! What the hell are you doing here?"

"We came to check out the hot tub, what are you doing?…Oh…" He had come further into the large hall and saw very well what they were doing.

"Er…sorry…again."

Brooke leant her head against Lucas' chest in despair.

"Can we…can we come in? We weren't sure if it was going to be open and we were kinda hoping - "

"Dude, no! We got here first," Lucas said. But Brooke sighed and said, "Sure. Come on."

Lucas gave her a look and she shrugged apologetically, "It's only fair."

Lucas looked a little pissed off but Brooke squeezed his hand as she got off him and whispered, "Later, I promise."

Tim was stripping off his T-shirt followed by a couple of the other guys and some of the cheerleaders. Just as they were getting in Brooke heard Nathan's voice outside.

"Hey it looks like the pool's open…" Nathan came in holding Haley's hand and followed by a huge group of guys and girls.

"Awesome!" Some of them began stripping of and jumping in the pool.

"Wanna go swimming?" Nathan asked Haley.

"No," she said, shaking her head and laughing.

"Too bad!" He grabbed her and jumped in.

"Nathan! You jerk!" But she was still laughing and was pacified by Nathan kissing her.

Brooke shook her head as she saw her romantic night with Lucas turned into a massive water fight.

She shrugged however and pulled herself out of the Jacuzzi, followed by Lucas who pushed her into the pool before jumping in himself. Brooke turned as they re emerged, jumping on to Lucas and wrapping her legs round his waist, kissing him.

Until Nathan dunked them both.

* * *

"Sshh," Brooke put a finger to her lips as she and Lucas crept down the corridor, wrapped in towels but still leaving little puddles of water in their wake. 

Lucas pulled out his room key and opened the door, checking up and down the corridor once more before pulling Brooke inside.

They dumped their wet clothes in the bathroom and fell back onto the bed, still wrapped in the towels. Brooke kissed him, and Lucas wrapped his arms round her neck. Suddenly she pulled back. "Why do I have a horrible feeling Tim is about to come in?"

Lucas chuckled, "Don't worry. I slipped Theresa ten bucks to keep him occupied for the night."

"Good idea," Brooke said, laughing.

Lucas shrugged, "I learn from the best."

Brooke smiled and rolled them both over, discarding Lucas' towel in the process. Lucas kissed her softly, running his hands up her bare sides. She giggled as Lucas began to kiss her neck. "Alone at last."

_**REVIEWS **keep me writing! Part two of the competition should be up soon. This story is drawing to a close now, because I've got some other ideas I want to spend more time writing, but there's another couple of chapters still._


	21. Chapter 21

_Thanks for all the reviews of the last chapter; I thought it was high time I did some replies so here goes:_

_**Kelsey:** Thanks for the review and the awesome point. Last chapter was a bit sex obsessed I guess! I'll try to re-address the balance.  
**Lac18:** Thanks so much for the lovely long review as always, I love reading them and it's great to know exactly which bits you like best.  
**Queen2821Bee:** Glad you enjoyed it, read on to see if you get your wish about who wins… MCDguard05: Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed it!  
**Mrs O-town**: Yeah I love Tim too! Glad you liked it, thanks for the review.  
**Christine:** Tim has pretty bad timing, huh? ;) Glad you like it, keep reviewing!  
**Ashley:** Thanks for the review and the suggestions. This story won't be going on long enough to get to Christmas eve, but I'll keep the proposal in mind for later stories. But I totally agree about the other suggestion!  
**Brucasfan0889:** Yeah Tim's timing is pretty crappy…or maybe he just has a thing for Brooke )  
**Brucas69: **Glad you liked them, keep reviewing!  
**Rocker87:** Thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed it!  
**Manda:** Hey, glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!_

_Hope you enjoy this one!_

Lucas felt himself slip into consciousness. He looked blearily around at the room he was in and blinked as he remembered where he was. He was aware of a warm body next to him and a slow smile spread across his face as he turned to look at the girl at his side.

Brooke was lying with her head on his shoulder, her body curled against his and one hand resting on his chest. He reached over and brushed a few hairs from her face, his eyes tracing her features. He placed a lingering kiss on her forehead before gently moving her and slipping out of the bed, chuckling to himself as she frowned in her sleep, and pulled his pillow to her.

He took a quick shower and got dressed, and was just pulling on his sweater when Brooke woke up.

"You leaving?"

"No!" He smiled and came over to the bed, crouching next to it and giving her a kiss. "I was just getting dressed. I didn't want to wake you."

She nodded and sat up a little, rubbing her arms and shivering slightly.

"Are you cold?" He sat down next to her, pulling her into his arms. She leant her head against his chest and buried her face in his warm sweater.

"Better?"

"Uh huh."

"Are you excited about today?"

"More like nervous."

He lifted her chin with a finger and smiled at her. "You're going to be great."

"Thanks."

They lay there for a few minutes, and then Brooke sighed and lifted her head. "I'd better get dressed, huh?"

Lucas made a sympathetic face. "Probably. Whitey'll be along pretty soon and I'm sure he'd love to catch you out of your room after we all avoided him last night!"

Brooke chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure he'll have something to say about that later." She turned to Lucas. "Okay, I'm gonna go back to my room." She kissed him and leant her forehead against his. "I'll see you later."

"Uh huh." Neither of them moved.

"Okay I'm really gonna go now."

"Okay."

She kissed him once more. "Alright now I'm really going." She got up grabbed a dressing gown, sticking her head round the door and checking up and down the corridor before smiling back at him and leaving the room.

He watched her go and then flopped back on the bed, turning his head to one side into her pillow. His breathed in her scent and smiled, shaking his head. Boy was he head over heels.

* * *

They all ate breakfast in the hotel. Whitey was looking round at all the tables, eyeing the students suspiciously for signs of fatigue. As they began to finish eating he came round the tables, stopping finally where Brooke, Lucas, Jake, Peyton, Haley and Nathan were all eating. 

"Miss Davis, I have reason to suspect some students were out of their beds after curfew last night."

Brooke looked up at him. "Really? Which students would these be, sir?"

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"I'm afraid I didn't see anything. I was quite tired after the long drive you see."

"Yes…I'm sure. So you wouldn't have any idea how a number of items of clothing came to be in the hotel swimming pool would you?"

Brooke shrugged, "I can only assume they were left there by a guest at the hotel."

"Well yes…but…"

"Maybe you should drop them of at lost property; someone might be looking for them. I can do that, if you like."

"That won't be necessary Miss Davis."

"Alright, well if you're sure." Brooke went back to her breakfast and Whitey stood there for a second, hesitating. That hadn't gone exactly as he'd planned.

"Right…well. Good." He walked off, looking a little flustered.

When he was out of earshot Peyton broke into a fit of giggles. "Brooke that was classic, you totally ran rings round him!"

Brooke grinned, "Well he has no proof I had anything to do with it."

"Did you guys leave your clothes there?" Haley asked.

"No we took ours," Lucas said, "It must have been some of the others. Good thing none of them were named."

"Yeah, Tim almost left his numbered sweater, now that would have been dumb!" Nathan said, laughing.

After breakfast the guys all headed off to the locker room to get changed for their game. Spectators started filing into the gym and Brooke and the other cheerleaders gathered at a spot on the side.

The team came in and started doing warm ups, Whitey shouting at them the whole time. Lucas managed to escape his notice for a second to receive a quick 'good luck' from Brooke before he was called into a huddle.

The game was fast and furious. The Ravens managed to dominate the other team early on but they fought back strongly in the next half and it took all the players skill to stay on top.

Nathan and Lucas kept everyone going, finding ever more ingenious ways to dodge the defence and get the ball through the hoop.

When the final whistle blew a huge cheer erupted from the Tree Hill supporters. They had won 33 – 29.

Haley raced down the stands to join the cheerleaders as they went over to the guys to congratulate them.

"You were amazing!" Brooke said as flung her arms round Lucas' neck. She kissed him and he smiled back at her. "Thanks Cheery."

"Hey man, nice lay up in the third quarter by the way," Nathan said, turning to Lucas as he wrapped an arm round Haley.

"Thanks, your three pointer in the last minute was pretty good too!"

Nathan chuckled and Haley beamed up at him. Brooke wrapped her arms round Lucas' waist as he chatted with the rest of the team, all of them talking over each other about the best points of the game. The spectators were leaving the gym and Brooke grinned at Haley as they saw the jealous looks being thrown at them by most of the female members of the crowd.

"One of the perks of dating a Scott brother I guess," Haley joked.

"Hey!" Peyton had overheard her.

"Or a Jagelski!" Brooke corrected, laughing.

Jake turned to them, having overheard his name, but Brooke just shook her head and waved it away.

"What time is your competition?" he asked Peyton, after rolling his eyes at Brooke.

"It starts in about an hour. We should probably get some lunch first, although I really do not feel like eating."

"Me neither," said Brooke, "And I don't want to have to change again. Lets just go to our room and have a drink there or something."

"So we'll see you guys later?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, we'll meet you back down here." Brooke gave him a quick kiss. "Really well played guys," she said, before heading off with Peyton.

"Yeah, lets hope you guys can keep up the winning standard," Nathan called after them. Brooke held up her middle finger as they walked away; they did not need any more reasons to be nervous!

* * *

The cheering squad were all gathered in the gym, standing to one side and watching the performance mat and judges table get set up. Brooke stood a little apart from them, her arms crossed, watching with a growing feeling of trepidation. 

The guys entered, having changed out of their basketball kits, and approached the girls.

"Hey, we came to wish you guys good luck," Nathan said, as Jake wrapped his arms round Peyton from behind.

"Aww thanks you guys!"

Lucas wrapped an arm round Brooke and she leant her head on his shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded but didn't say anything, and Lucas frowned. He took her hand and led her away to the corridor just outside the gym.

"What's up?" he asked gently.

She shrugged. "I don't know…it's just…I want to win this so much, not just for me, but for the squad. It's our last chance for most of us because it's senior year…and I don't know if our routine is good enough, or if we practised enough…" She trailed off looking down.

Lucas lifted her chin with a finger. "Hey…hey, look at me. You are going to be great. We've all seen you guys and you're awesome. You've worked your butts off and you can do this, okay?"

She nodded.

"And whatever happens out there…whatever the judges decide…I think you're amazing. You've done so much for this squad and they know it. And anyway, you said it yourself you're just here to have fun right?" He smiled and she returned it.

"Thanks Broody."

"No problem." He pulled her into his arms and she buried her head in his shoulder, smiling as she felt him kiss the side of her head.

"You really are amazing Brooke," he said as she stepped back, and he looked into her eyes. "And I love you so much."

"I love you too."

He smiled. "Now go show them what you've got."

* * *

Peyton saw Brooke and Lucas come back into the hall. Lucas went into the stands to join the other guys, and Brooke came over to her, looping an arm round her waist and resting her head on her shoulder. She sighed happily and Peyton chuckled. 

"I assume that Lucas said something totally adorable?"

Brooke nodded, "Uh huh."

Peyton rolled her eyes and Brooke smiled to herself.

"You ready to do this?" Peyton asked.

"Absolutely."

The squad waited by the side as cheerleaders from other schools all performed their routines. Eventually an organiser with a clipboard told them they were next, and Brooke stood up and beckoned the others to a corner of the gym while another school finished their routine.

The cheerleaders all stood round in a circle watching Brooke. Some of them looked excited and some of them looked like they wanted to throw up.

"Okay guys. This is it." Brooke smiled encouragingly at them all and continued, "We know we can do this. I know you can do this. We've practised this routine a ton of times; you just have to do it once more! So lets just enjoy it, and do our best. Cause we can't let those basketball players have all the glory," she grinned at them all, "They'll be a nightmare on the coach on the way back if we do. Lets show them what we've got!"

The other girls all grinned with her.

"Hands in." Brooke put her hand in the middle and Peyton placed hers on top. The others all did the same.

"Ravens on three."

They all chanted it and broke.

"Lets do this thang!" Peyton said and Brooke nodded. They all ran out onto the platform and took up their starting positions.

Brooke looked for Lucas in the crowd. She spotted him and he smiled at her, she smiled back, and winked just as the music began.

They performed the routine perfectly. They were all in time, the flips worked out, and the crowd were loving it.

Lucas smiled as he watched Brooke, a sexy little grin on her face as she did the moves confidently.

"See this is why I had a thing for cheerleaders," Nathan said, watching them all.

Haley hit him, "Nate!"

"I had. And no one made a better cheerleader than you," he said, kissing her.

She smiled. "It was fun actually, but…not really my thing. Now Brooke on the other hand…I wouldn't be surprised if she was born with pom poms!"

Lucas laughed. "Yeah, she's got it."

The routine finished and everyone applauded. The Ravens basketball team stood up and cheered, and Brooke blew Lucas a kiss.

When all the squads had performed the five best were announced and called to stand together in the gym. The girls all cheered as the Ravens were announced as one of the five, and assembled with the other in the centre.

Peyton took Brooke's hand and squeezed it, and the girls shared a nervous look.

"Now, to begin the announcements…in third place…from Charlotte, the Camberwell High Cats!"

The captain of the squad came up to collect their trophy, and brought it back to her excited team.

"And in second place…"

Brooke felt Peyton squeeze her hand a little tighter, and Theresa reached out linked pinkys with her by their sides.

"…from Bear Creek…the Bears!"

Brooke laughed in surprise as Claire looked at her team-mates, shocked. She went up to collect her trophy, managing to draw a smile for the judges.

"And now…in first place…"

Brooke looked into the stands and found Lucas looking back at her, he gave her a comforting smile and she took a deep breath.

"…from Tree Hill…"

The rest of the judges sentence was lost in cheers from the crowd and the excited squeals of the squad. Brooke just about heard her say "the Tree Hill Ravens" before Peyton was grabbing her hand and they were making their way to the table, where the judge handed her the enormous trophy.

She brought it back and the whole squad flung their arms round her, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Lastly, the award for best original choreography…"

They looked up, Brooke had almost forgotten this was still to come, and she found that right now she couldn't care less what name they said, the whole squad had won first prize, and that was what was most important.

Although…she kind of hoped it wasn't Claire.

"…Amy Holding from the King Town Tornados!"

Brooke smiled as the girl went up to collect her award, she looked younger than her, and seemed completely shocked to have won it. Her team all congratulated her as she came back to them, hugging her and grinning.

She was shaken out of her daze by a voice in her ear. "I told you you could do it."

She turned, smiling, to its owner, and he smiled back at her.

He held her gaze for a second before she flung her arms round him and kissed him, smiling against his mouth as she heard Haley cheer behind her.

The celebrations continued for a few minutes as everyone hugged everyone else and marvelled at the size of the trophy.

"So how does it feel?" Peyton asked, coming up to Brooke with Jake who had his arms wrapped round her waist.

"You tell me, you won it too!"

Peyton smiled, "Yeah, you're right…feels pretty great, huh?"

Brooke laughed, "Yeah it does!" She caught sight suddenly of the girl who had won the choreography trophy leaving the gym.

"Hey," she called after her, "Well done, you're routine was really great!"

The girl turned to see who had spoken; she saw Brooke and smiled. "Thanks, you guys were amazing!"

Brooke smiled back at her, "Thanks. Good luck next year."

The girl nodded and left, and Brooke smiled to herself.

"You ready to get back to Tree Hill?" Lucas asked.

Brooke turned round in his arms. "Yes."

He looked over at the trophy that Bevin was now holding. "Do you think they'll be room for that thing on the coach?"

Brooke looked over her shoulder at it. "I don't know," she said giggling, "It is pretty huge!"

* * *

With their bags packed everyone piled into the lobby to wait for the coach that would take them back to Tree Hill. 

Brooke, still on a totally high from their win, was less keen now to ride in her own car, as she wanted to celebrate with her squad.

"Nate, please! Please, please, please! You know this will be your only chance ever to drive my car as I would never let you under normal circumstances."

"Brooke I can drive pretty much any car I want from my dad's dealership."

"Your dad doesn't sell Beetles! Come on you know you want to. For me? Please!"

Nathan sighed. "Fine. But only because you guys won. Hales, we're driving back in Brooke's car."

Haley turned around from where she had been talking to Peyton. "We are? Okay."

"Thank you so much you guys."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "No problem. Luke, take your girlfriend to the coach before she talks me into doing anything else for her."

Lucas chuckled. "Come on Cheery."

They were just leaving when Theresa approached them.

"Hey Brooke, I'm just about to leave because my mom was chaperoning and she's driving me back…but I just wanted to say thanks. You're a really great captain and we would never have won without you."

Brooke smiled shyly, "Thanks Theresa."

Theresa nodded and smiled, and left with her parents. Lucas caught Brooke's eye and raised his eyebrows, and she smiled bashfully and looked down.

* * *

The ride back was indeed very fun. Brooke and Peyton persuaded Whitey to let them listen to the radio and, after a brief argument over stations, seeing as their musical tastes are rather different, found one they liked and turned it up loud. 

The cheerleaders all sang along, giggling and laughing as they shared some huge bags of candy Brooke had bought them to celebrate their trophy.

Lucas laughed as Brooke and Peyton lip synched to Britney's 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'

"I love this song so much. Do you remember our dance routine we made up to it Peyt?"

"Oh my god, yeah! That was like fifth grade!"

"Yeah it was awesome!" They both stood up and started dancing.

"Sit down at the back!" Whitey yelled from the driver's seat.

Brooke giggled and sat down. "Winning stuff is so much fun!"

Peyton grinned at her, "Yeah it is. Losing is not much worse though. Do you remember a couple of year's ago when we spent the whole coach ride back bitching about the other squads, and pacifying ourselves by eating tons of chocolate!"

"Yeah! That was pretty fun actually…"

"Maybe being altogether is the important bit, not the winning," Peyton said.

"Okay Pey, don't go all after school special on me now!"

Peyton giggled and threw an M&M at Brooke.

They stopped at a petrol station a while later to get some gas. Whitey made his way down the aisle of the coach while they were stopped, ordering some players to put their seat belts back on.

Some of the guys and girls had fallen asleep now; tired out by their exploits the night before and their action packed day.

He glanced over them all, and smiled to himself as he saw Brooke Davis, curled up against Lucas Scott, her head on his shoulder and one arm wrapped round him. He chuckled; she was a tricky one when she was awake, but lying there asleep she looked like a little angel.

_As always, **please review!** I'm going away on holiday tomorrow for a week, so I won't be able to update for a while. Sorry! But when I do it'll be the last chapter, so I'll take a little time to get it just right. Hopefully the wait will be worth it!_


	22. Chapter 22

_Thank you so much for all the reviews, you guys kick ass! (Thanks also for waiting around while I was away). Here is the **last ever chapter**…_

It was Friday, and almost a week since they had been to the cheerleading competition. Lucas was sitting at his desk attempting to tackle some trigonometry when there was a knock on the door and Brooke entered. She came over and sat on his lap facing him, and he rested his hands on her thighs, looking at her expectantly.

She opened her mouth to speak and then glanced behind her at the open books on his desk. "Am I interrupting you?"

"No. Well…yeah. But I can't do it anyway so it doesn't matter."

"Are you sure? I can just hang out till you're done." She started to get up but he pulled her back down. "Cheery I would chose you over homework any day, now sit down and tell me what's up."

She smiled. "Okay. Well it's nothing really, I just wanted to let you know that Hales, Peyton and me…or I, whatever, are going out tonight."

"Girls' night?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, cool."

"So you're cool with that?"

Lucas gave her a weird look. "You don't need my permission."

Brooke smiled and kissed him briefly. "But it's nicer to have it. I'll take that as a yes."

"Does this mean the guys are going to want to do something tonight?"

"Oh yeah, I just came from Hales and Nates', and he says to call him."

"Okay, I'll do that later."

"What's your homework, want some help?"

"Trigonometry."

"Ookay, I'll retract that offer."

He chuckled. "Do you want to stick around anyway?"

"Sure," She checked her watch, "I've got about half an hour till I should go home and change."

"Half an hour?"

She grinned. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well I don't know…" He gave an exaggerated shrug and then stood up suddenly, lifting her up with him.

Brooke squealed and wrapped her arms round him, and he laughed as he carried her over to the bed and dropped her on it.

"Luke!"

"Sshh my mom's here," he said as he leant over her and began kissing her.

Brooke pulled back, giving him a look with her eyebrows raised. "Did you forget my rule?"

Lucas pouted. "She's way over at the other end of the house…she's probably cooking…using blenders and stuff…listening to very loud music!"

She shook her head. "No way."

"Oh come on! What happened to the girl who would have sex in a stranger's hot tub?"

Brooke laughed, "That's strangers! Not your mom!"

Lucas chuckled, "Fine. Can we still make out?"

She hesitated then shrugged, "Sure, why not. But we stay fully clothed."

Lucas gave her a pleading look.

"Fine. If you _really_ must you can take your shirt off." She grinned and Lucas laughed, shaking his head as he kissed her.

* * *

The guys and girls all met at Nathan and Haley's apartment that evening, from where the girls would be going out and the guys would be staying and playing video games. 

"I can't believe you guys are just going to sit around here all evening," Peyton said, sitting on Jake's lap in the living room while they waited for Haley to find her shoes.

"Hey! We're going to have fun, right guys?" Nathan said.

Lucas made a vague sound of affirmation and Brooke chuckled.

"We have food, drink, and, all you really need: a Playstation 2!"

"Sounds like you'll have a hell of a time," Haley said, coming in holding her shoes. "You ready to go girls?" she asked as she slipped them on.

"Absolutely," Peyton said, getting up from Jake and giving him a quick kiss before joining Haley at the door.

Brooke stood up from the couch and leaned over from behind it to give Lucas a kiss.

"No PDA in the living room," Nathan called. Brooke looked up and gave him a look, rolling her eyes. Lucas gave her a chaste kiss but she placed a hand on his cheek and kissed him properly before standing up.

"Way to not flaunt the new love guys," Haley said.

"It's hardly new," said Peyton.

"Don't rub it in."

Brooke smirked at their conversation. "The flame of young love already dying out Hales?" she asked laughing.

Nathan flipped Brooke the finger and stood up, coming over and kissing Haley passionately. She giggled as she wrapped her arms round his neck.

"Okay, lets go before these two start duelling," Peyton said laughing, pulling the other two out the door. "Bye guys!"

"Bye Peyt, love you," Jake called.

Peyton smirked as they left. "See, we don't need overdone public displays to show we're in love," she said to the other two as they made their way to the car.

"Whatever," Brooke said laughing, "You would've if we had the time!"

* * *

The girls had an awesome night. They danced, had some drinks, listened to the band and talked. 

It was getting pretty late when Brooke started to feel really hot. She had a headache growing and she was thirsty. She looked over at the bar and groaned as she saw it surrounded by people.

Making her way to the door she went outside and felt instantly better as the cool night air blew past her. She knew there was a drugstore just round the corner. Hesitating briefly, she decided that Haley and Peyton wouldn't miss her for a few minutes, and headed off to go and get some aspirin.

"Hales, where's Brooke?" Peyton and Haley had been talking to some people, and Peyton had suddenly noticed that she could no longer see their friend.

"I thought she was dancing, is she not here?"

"I can't see her anywhere, she's probably around though. It's getting kind of late and I'm really hot."

"Yeah, me too. Do you want to leave?"

"Yeah, lets find Brooke and go."

Brooke was waiting in a queue behind a guy who was clearly drunk and was trying to buy some alcohol from the cashier, who was not letting him.

She tapped her foot, why did drugstores have to sell _everything_ now! She checked her watch, wondering if Haley and Peyton were looking for her.

"She's probably gone home," Haley said, as she and Peyton came out of the club onto the street, having failed to find Brooke inside.

"Why would she? She doesn't have a ride."

"I saw Theresa in there earlier, maybe she got one from her. She said she was feeling tired."

"Lets call her…except I have her cellphone," Peyton's face fell as she remembered Brooke giving it to her to hold earlier while she was trying to find something in her bag. "Well we'll call her at home instead," she said.

"Okay, do you have your cell? Mine's at home."

Peyton gave her a look.

"What I forgot it!"

"I'll use Brooke's."

"Oh and where's yours?" Haley asked with a raised eyebrow.

Peyton looked down, "Out of battery," she mumbled, and then laughed as Haley rolled her eyes. She found Brooke's cell in her purse, dialled Brooke's home and waited.

"Answering machine," she said, as she hung up. "Why don't we go and check?"

"Shouldn't we stay here?"

"Well she's not here and you said she was feeling tired."

"Yeah, okay. Lets go."

They headed to the car and got in.

* * *

Brooke came out of the store, sighing as she checked her watch. She'd better call the others. She began searching through her bag, looking for her cell. 

"Dammit," she muttered. She must have forgotten to get it back from Peyton. She looked up and down the street for a phone box, and caught sight of one a little further up the road. She was just checking her pockets for some change when she heard a voice address her.

"Well well well. Brooke Davis without her little entourage. Flying solo tonight?" Josh had come out of a club a few doors down from the drugstore.

Brooke sighed and turned to face her ex-boyfriend. "Josh you're drunk. Go back inside and call a cab to take you home."

Josh raised an eyebrow at her. "At 12 am? Honey, the night's still young."

"Fine. If you want to mess yourself up, that's fine with me. Just do me a favour, and go harass some girl inside and leave me alone."

Josh took a step closer to her and Brooke stiffened and turned away.

"What if I don't want to? You look like you could use some company."

"Well I don't."

"You sure about that? Sure you're not lonely?" He laid a hand on her shoulder and she slapped it away. "Josh come one, this isn't you. Stop being an idiot and go sober up."

He hesitated and then took a step back, but he remained outside. Brooke sighed and opened her purse again, still trying to find some money.

* * *

"Why don't we try Lucas?" Peyton suggested as she was driving. 

"Good idea, I'm sure she just went to see him or something." Haley took the phone and looked in the address book for Lucas' number.

"Who the hell are all these people?" she asked, looking at the list of weird names.

"Oh, Brooke labels everyone with their nickname, I can never find anyone's number on that thing. Don't you know your best friend's cell number anyway?"

"I'm horrible at remembering numbers. Do you know it?"

"No, but he's not my best friend. Look under Broody, I'm sure it'll be there."

"Um…nope. Not there, there's blondie though."

"That's me. Try…um…what else does she call him?"

"Boyfriend?…not there either…" She continued to search, muttering names as she thought of them, "Gorgeous? Nope…Handsome?…I'm running out of ideas here…oh, I've got it." She rolled her eyes as she found the name, "Sexy."

Peyton chuckled and waited as Haley held the phone up to her ear.

Lucas had just arrived home from Nathan's when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out, checking the name on the screen and smiling. "Hey babe."

"Um, no, it's Haley."

"Okay, well then scratch that." Lucas chuckled. "Where's Brooke?"

"Yeah that's why we're calling. She's not with you?" Haley began to feel uneasy.

"No. I thought she was with you." Lucas stood up still holding the phone to his ear and reached out for his jacket.

"Well she's not. It's fine though, she's probably just still at the party, or maybe she went home - "

"Have you tried calling her there?" Lucas interrupted.

"Yeah we got answer phone, but we're on our way there now. She might be asleep or - "

"I'm going to the club, where is it?"

"Luke it's probably nothing - "

"Where is it?" he repeated, as he went out the door towards his car.

"2134 West Avenue. We'll check her house and then meet you there."

"Okay, I'll be there in a minute." Lucas hung up and got into his car, closing his eyes briefly as he started the ignition, praying she was okay.

* * *

Josh watched Brooke as she searched, his eyes lingering on her body. His head was swimming and her blurred form stood out against the murky blackness of the night. 

"You know, I must be one of the few guys in our year who hasn't screwed you…and I even dated you."

"You know that's not true."

He shrugged. "Depends who you believe." He wandered round so he was standing in front of her once more. "Either way we certainly never did it."

"And your point is…?"

Josh quirked an eyebrow and Brooke rolled her eyes, not bothering to reply. He moved closer to her and she moved back, still ignoring him. His lip curled, his buzz was fading and he was bored.

She pulled some crumpled notes form the bottom of her purse and put them in her picket slinging the purse back on her shoulder.

She looked up to find Josh still standing in front of her. He took a few steps forward and she moved back, until suddenly her back hit the wall of the building behind them. She sighed and reached out an arm to push him out of the way, but he stood firm, not moving.

Brooke felt her throat go dry. She had been in situations similar to this before. After all, she had once been a serial partygoer, and she attracted a lot of attention from guys. She was used to it though, so much so that it had never frightened her before. She would always just shove them off, and find some other people to hang out with.

Josh's mind was set however, and he was not going to be dissuaded by Brooke pushing him away. There was no one else on the street, they were alone. Brooke swallowed, realising how bad her situation was.

Josh saw her expression change, and smiled. He had never done something like this before, but it was easy. He was stronger than her; he had control. The drinks he had had quietened the voice in his head telling him to stop.

He could do whatever he wanted.

"You know I've always liked you Brooke," he said quietly, one hand drifting to her waist.

Brooke stopped it, gripping his wrist. "Josh, stop." Her hold was firm and her voice steady, but inside her heart was racing.

"Stop what? We're just having a little fun."

"You're not this guy Josh, you don't want to do this. Think about this for a second, just try to think clearly." Brooke's eyes were willing him to hear her, to come back to reality and realise what he was doing.

But he didn't. Instead he pushed his lips roughly against hers. She turned her face to the side, struggling against him. She couldn't believe this was actually happening.

And then suddenly:

"Hey! What's going on!"

A few guys had come out of the club, and one of them appeared to have seen what was going on.

Josh pulled back swiftly. "Hey dude, I'm just messing around with my girlfriend alright? Could you leave us alone?"

The guy hesitated, but Brooke yelled out, "I'm not his girlfriend!"

The guy immediately came forward and tried to pull Josh off, calling to one of his friends to get security. Josh hit the guy and a fight began. Brooke drew back, realising suddenly that her face was wet with tears, and she was cold and shivering.

She wanted more than anything to be in Lucas' arms…to be safe.

* * *

Lucas' car screeched to a halt outside the club. He got out, his heart racing as he saw a commotion outside. Peyton and Haley got out too, looking around trying to work out what was going on. 

Lucas pushed his way through some of the people, feeling a jolt in his chest as he caught sight of Brooke.

He hurried towards her but a security guard stopped him. "I'm sorry I can't let you - "

"That's my girlfriend!"

The guard glanced at his co-worker, who nodded, and they let Lucas past.

"Lucas!" Brooke saw him as he came past the guard. He wrapped his arms round her as soon as he reached her, resting his face in her hair and letting out a breath.

She buried her head in his shoulder, holding onto him tightly. "I'm so glad you're here," she whispered.

He held her close, but began looking around, trying to work out what had happened. His eyes fell on Josh, being handcuffed by a security guard.

"Josh?" White rage overtook him, and he almost let go of Brooke and went to punch the hell out of him, but she pushed him back, keeping her arms round him. "Leave it Lucas, please."

Lucas took a few deep breaths, his mind still racing at the thought of what his team mate had almost done.

Josh was dragged away by the security guard, his head hanging. As he passed Brooke he stopped, reaching for her arm. "I'm sorry, Brooke. I'm sor - "

"Don't touch her." Lucas' words were cold as ice. He couldn't look at him right now, and he couldn't stand the thought of him being near Brooke, even if it was to apologise. It was not the time for that now.

Brooke looked away, turning her head back against Lucas' chest.

Josh watched them as he was taken to a police car, Lucas with his arms wrapped protectively around Brooke, one hand on her head, stroking her hair. He whispered words to her and Josh turned away, looking down once more.

Lucas felt Brooke's tears begin to wet his shirt. His tightened his arms round her, and held her. "It's okay, you're safe," he whispered.

A policeman spoke to Brooke briefly, and she told him what happened, glad to have Lucas' arms round her as she struggled to describe it. She trailed off towards the end but the officer said it was enough, and that she could come and make a statement on Monday.

The crowd began to clear and Peyton and Haley were left standing there with them, both of them with tear stained faces.

"Brooke…"

"We're so sorry."

She hugged them both immediately, stopping their apologies. "It's not your fault, I'm okay." She gave them a small smile, which Peyton struggled to return.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. I love you," Peyton said, hugging her best friend once more. "Love you too," Brooke said, pulling Haley into the hug as well.

They left and Lucas took Brooke's hand, "Come on, I'll take you home."

They drove back to Brooke's house and Brooke opened the door. "Can you stay?" she asked.

"Of course."

She led him upstairs to her room where she turned to face him. "You've barely said a word since we left. Lucas, I'm okay."

"Brooke, you almost got…if anything had happened to you…" He trailed off, his throat tight.

"But it didn't. And I'll never put myself in that position again, okay?"

He nodded, still unable to speak, and held out his arms. She came into them, kissing his shoulder and resting her head against it.

They changed and got into bed, Brooke lying on her side with her back to him, the events of the night flashing before her eyes. She sighed, and turned over, looking up at Lucas.

"I love you," she said quietly.

"I love you too. I love you so much."

She kissed him, cupping his cheek, holding it for a second. Then she settled in his arms and fell asleep.

* * *

Brooke and Lucas entered Karen's café on Saturday, and went to the table where the others were all sitting. 

"Hey guys."

They all looked up, and Jake and Nathan shared a glance. "Hey Brooke…listen we heard about what happened. I'm really sorry."

"Thanks Nate."

They sat down, and Jake passed the drinks they had ordered for them.

"How are you feeling?" Haley asked.

"I'm okay," Brooke said. "Really," she added with a smile, seeing Peyton's look, "You don't need to be tip-toeing."

Nathan smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "Okay. Well we were just talking about college."

"Why! It's miles off and it's such a depressing subject," Brooke objected.

"Firstly Brooke, no it's not," Jake said, chuckling as she put her hands over to her ears, "And secondly, why is it so depressing?"

"Because we won't all be together! You guys will all be off at Harvard and Yale and I'll be stuck at some community college for the supremely thick…with maybe Nathan, sorry. Although he married a tutor so he'll probably be right there with you."

"Brooke come on, you'll get into a good college. You're smart, you just need to…apply yourself a little more," Peyton said.

"Yeah but that means paying attention and you know how much I hate doing that."

Lucas laughed. "You'll be fine. And anyway, since when are we all getting into Harvard. Have you seen my math? In case you've forgotten yesterday, it's pretty crappy."

"Oh please, you've read like every book ever written, they'd let you in anywhere," Brooke said, waving away his excuse. "Anyway, why were you talking about college in the first place?"

"Um…" Nathan drew a blank.

"Oh yeah!" Peyton remembered. "It was because Hales said the café is pretty empty because the university is on a break, and then Jake asked if anyone would ever think of going to college near Tree Hill, and we basically all said no…so then we started talking about other places."

Lucas nodded, interested. "Like where?"

"Well I always wanted to go Stanford, like my mom," Peyton said. "But Art school might be cool too. Of course, I'd never get in…"

"Pey if I had my food yet I'd throw a fry at you, of course you would."

Peyton smiled and continued, "I think I'd like to go to the west coast, just get miles away from Tree Hill…and drama."

"What about you Jake," Brooke asked quietly, wondering where he fit into all Peyton's plans of escape. Or maybe she was the only one who would never consider going to college anywhere away from Lucas…maybe they all just thought these were high school romances that had no effect on college whatsoever?

"Well I always thought Jenny meant I was definitely headed to Duke or something. College and the single dad thing don't really mix. But, I don't know…" he glanced at Peyton, "Maybe with two people I could move away from home and still look after her."

Peyton smiled and leant against him.

"Plus I always wanted to try surfing."

Brooke smiled. So maybe she wasn't the only one.

"Do you guys know where you want to go?" Lucas asked Nathan and Haley. "I presume you want to go somewhere together?"

Haley put her head on one side. "Not necessarily…I've heard teenage long distance marriages have quite a high success rate," she joked.

Nathan gave her a look and she laughed. "Yeah, I think we want to go somewhere together."

"We're aiming high," Nathan joked, "Yale, maybe Princeton," he shrugged. "Maybe we'll even head off to England and go to Oxford or Cambridge or something."

Haley laughed, "You might need to raise that 2.8 just a little for that Nate."

Nathan smiled. "Actually the other day we were talking a little about UNC. It's got a great basketball team, and we could even keep the apartment."

Lucas leant down so his mouth was by Brooke's ear as the conversation continued, "Are you a little scared that these guys all seem to know exactly what they're doing?" he whispered.

Brooke giggled. "Yes. I have no idea."

"Good, me neither."

She smiled up at him. "Well I'll go anywhere with you," she said kissing him, "…as long as you haven't got your heart set on University of Nebraska or something!"

* * *

Lucas knocked on the door to Brooke's house on Saturday evening, looking pretty smart in his favourite shirt and holding a bouquet of roses. After lunch with everyone, they had spent the afternoon apart, but they had agreed to go out later. 

Brooke opened the door and smiled when she saw him.

"Hey gorgeous," he said, placing a hand on her waist and kissing her. "These are for you. Cliché but…whatever."

Brooke smiled. "They're beautiful Luke. I love roses."

"I know."

"Of course you do." He chuckled.

"You look amazing." She was wearing a short charcoal skirt and a green v-neck sweater, the sleeves of which were pulled down over her hands.

"Thanks. So, where are we going?"

Lucas hesitated. "Actually, we're going to my house…"

Lucas slowly opened the door to his house, and led Brooke inside. The lights were dimmed and there were candles on every surface. Brooke gasped as Lucas led her into the dining room where there was a small table set up with a white table cloth over it and settings for two set out. There were roses in vases everywhere, and rose petals strewn over the table.

"Oh my god Lucas, this is amazing!" Brooke took in the sight before her, her hand over her mouth as she felt tears begin to well up in her eyes.

Lucas wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her head. "You deserve it."

She turned round in his arms and smiled up at him, her eyes shining. "I can't believe you did this for me. Is this because of yesterday?"

"Actually I've had this planned for a little while. But yesterday did make me realise again how much you mean to me…I was so scared Brooke - "

"It's over," she said, interrupting him. "And it's all turned out okay. Lets enjoy tonight."

He smiled. "Yeah, you're right."

She placed a kiss on his lips. "Thank you, for this. You're incredible."

"Nuh uh, tonight's for you. You're not allowed to steal my lines."

She giggled. "Right, sorry."

He chuckled and took her hand. "Come on, let's eat."

They sat down and Lucas brought out the first course. They began to eat, talking as they did so.

"So, I have a question," Brooke said after a minute.

"Yeah?"

"When everyone was talking about colleges earlier…did that scare you a little? I mean…just the thought of not being together scares me. And even if we say we'll go to the same one it might not work out like out; ultimately we'll each have to make a decision and…there's no guarantee we'll decide the same thing."

She looked up at Lucas, her eyes wide. He was looking back at her, smiling slightly.

"I think…it'll be okay."

"I was looking for a little more reassurance there Broody."

"No I mean it. I really think that whatever happens it'll be okay. College is about being out in the world on your own. I think even if we're not together then we'll find our way back."

Brooke thought about this. "But don't you think…you might meet someone else?"

"Do you?"

"Well no. I mean, I don't think I could ever feel this way about anyone else so - "

"That's how I feel too. Whoever I meet they could never replace you."

Brooke smiled. "I guess it will be okay then…might be a pretty crappy four years though."

Lucas chuckled. "Well that's a different matter. I might want you around just to keep things interesting even if not for the sake of our relationship."

Brooke laughed. "Okay…sorry to bring that up. I just…think about the future sometimes and get…scared I guess."

Lucas shrugged. "Me too. But we'll get through it together," he smiled.

* * *

Lucas ran his hands lazily up and down Brooke's back as she lay on top of him, her arms looped round his neck and her head resting on his bare chest. 

It was Sunday morning, and he was thinking; his mind wandering through the year or so since he had met her.

"When did you fall in love with me again?" He asked, "After…I cheated on you."

Brooke raised her head very slightly to look up on him. She didn't think she had ever heard him say that before…ever actually name what he'd done. He was looking at her expectantly however so she thought about his question.

"I don't know if I ever stopped loving you," she said, laying her hands on his chest and resting her chin on them, "I don't think you ever really stop loving your first love."

Lucas took this in, still thinking. He smiled slightly, before he saw a sad expression flash across her face.

"What?" he asked.

She hesitated. "Nothing."

"Seriously, what?"

She moved over, so that she was lying on her side next to him, propped up on one elbow, and he looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"It's just that…your first love was Peyton. I know that…you'll always have some feelings for her."

Lucas frowned slightly, and took the hand of Brooke's that was resting on his chest still, interlacing his fingers with it.

"I don't have any feelings for Peyton anymore, you know that."

"I just mean…you'll always remember her as your first love."

"Except she wasn't my first love. Brooke, my feelings for Peyton disappeared…actually pretty quickly. And they never, ever felt anything like I feel now." A small smile formed on his face as he looked at Brooke.

"It was you who I never forgot. My feelings for you, whatever they were last year, never went away; they grew stronger."

Brooke smiled too, and leaned forward to kiss him gently.

"I love you. I felt something, the first time I met you, the real you, that was different from anything I'd ever felt before. And that feeling's never gone away…and it never will."

**The End**

_That's it, it's over! I hope you enjoyed it, and **PLEASE REVIEW** because it's your last chance ever! Even if you've never reviewed before or you're reading this story in the distant future I would love a review in any shape or form. Thank you to everyone who has ever reviewed this story, and a special thank you to all the persistent reviewers, especially lac18 for reviewing every chapter with lovely long reviews! _

_I will be doing a sort of sequel to this. First there is a stand-alone that should be up soon, which is actually more of a sequel to 'The Ski Trip', but works for this too. Then there is the main sequel set when they are all at college, which will be centred on Brooke and Lucas and looks set to be awesome! (If I do say so myself) So keep a look out for that!_


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